When Fire Fell
by Green Bunny
Summary: Bernhardt is back with a plan to hit Kazuma in the place where it hurts him the most: His heart. Rating may change in later chapters.
1. Prologue

**Blanket Disclaimer: I don't own Kaze no Stigma. This is a fan-made piece of fiction that is not written for monetary profit of any kind.  
**

**Author's Note: This story is a continuation of the end of anime version of Kaze no Stigma. I may have borrowed slightly from the manga a little but for the most part will stick to anime canon.  
**

**A huge thank you goes to Winnow for chapter cleanup and some consistency issues he so kindly pointed out to me. You're my hero. Thank you, thank you!**

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Prologue

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It had been nearly four years since anyone had seen or heard of Bernhardt. Kazuma and Ayano had settled into a habit of expelling evil spirits and dining out.

Since then, the two had been too busy with life, work, and school to spend much downtime with each other. Kazuma did not have the time to move much beyond the traumatic events involving Lapis. Consequently, little had happened to advance the budding relationship between himself and Ayano. No longer a little girl; Ayano was torn between deciding to wait for her girlhood crush to acknowledge his feelings for her or move on.

Then one night it happened. Whispers on the wind of Bernhardt's presence filtered through the spirit network. Kazuma would have stalked down the man alone, had he the ability, but was unable to secure any solid leads. Spirit activity exploded to new levels in the Tokyo area and was especially busy around a small forest preserve. It did not take too long before the two were ordered by Jugo to make a trip there to investigate. They began a thorough search of the area.

Several days of searching turned up nothing. Then, just as they were getting ready to assume the elusive mage had moved on, Ayano stumbled upon Lapis. They immediately engaged in a fight. Kazuma tossed arcs of wind at the girl while Ayano hacked away at her with Enraiha. She hoped that the cold puppet would eventually make a mistake under the assault and, one way or another, a strike would get through.

Their plan seemed to be working. Lapis was breathing hard, and the brunette began to retreat deeper into the woods. Eventually, the duo had pushed her all the way back into a clearing. Her excitement got the better of her, and she followed the girl into the clearing… only to step into a binding trap.

Ayano was bathed in a red glow, and the battle around her disappeared into darkness. All she could see was the red light. She could vaguely sense her feet rise from the dirt and was distantly aware that she was, in fact, hovering just a few inches off the ground. Nerveless fingers released their hold on Enraiha and the sword shimmered, then vanished before it could hit the ground. In her ears the fire spirits screamed for her to run, but when her mind tried to call her body forth into action it refused to move. Ayano could hear the fire spirits rage.

"_How dare someone bind them to the earth? What fool thought that fire could be tamed? They would show the insolent ones the impossibility of such a feat!"_

Dimly, Ayano felt the spirits take hold of her hands. Her mind was drowned in their righteous indignation. They demanded that she summon Enraiha, and she found herself asking them why they bothered to ask; of course they could! Joy flooded her mind from the spirits to her, and she knew that her lips had curled into their smile. Her hands clapped together, and the sword appeared before her in a rush of glorious flame. Her spirit-driven fingers captured the hilt, and her ears were rewarded with a crackling protest from the barrier that held her. She cleared her mind and summoned their energy to her soul in order to overload the barrier. The red light that clouded her vision began to flicker and bubble as if it were boiling. Seconds later, the spell scrawled on the black earth burst into flames and melted under the scorching heat.

The moment the barrier came down the darkness retreated, and the world flashed into focus around her again. Her ruby eyes immediately found Lapis. The laugher of many spirits chorused in her mind.

"_She was scared!"_ They said. "_Finish her!"_ They cried.

Ayano smirked and began to summon her energy again as her sword's golden flames flashed to crimson. Over the roar of the flames Ayano could barely hear Kazuma's shout of warning when the scared look on Lapis' face melted into a triumphant smirk. However, Ayano had no time to comprehend the expression before pain suddenly ripped through her sword arm. The near-unbearable pain quickly moved and lanced up her arm, across her shoulder, and then bored into her chest. She fell to one knee as she struggled to maintain consciousness, but the pain quickly overwhelmed her.

Her last thought before she was stripped of consciousness was, _I'm sorry, Kazuma. I was careless_.


	2. When Fire Fell

**Author's note: All right, I said I wasn't going to post this until after I had finished the whole story but I find that I just can't help myself. So, here are some important things to keep in mind. I have a major Inu Yasha project in the works at the moment that takes up most of my energies and as such that story gets priority over my other side-projects. That means that this story and my other story "Tears for the Many" have NO FIXED SCHEDULE for updates. It'd be good to sign up with the auto-update feature to make your life a little easier with updates. **

**Thanks again for reading!  
**

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Kazuma wasn't sure what he was witnessing. All his carefully laid plans and research had never prepared him for the sight that unfolded before him. Ayano knelt on the ground surrounded by concentric circles filled with gold symbols. He could tell by the shape that it was some kind of summoning circle, but the letters were written in an ancient form of Sanskrit that he had never seen before in all his travels. He mentally cursed. He could not dispel the circle if he did not know what it did; stopping it mid-summon could do any number of things. It could summon an explosion, or stop Ayano's heart; there was no telling. Bernhardt would know it, too. He wondered if he hoped he would risk it.

Even though every fiber of his being told him to destroy it, Kazuma held back and watched. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white and willed his face to remain neutral. He needed to look detached if he wanted to keep Bernhardt guessing about what he might do next. Meanwhile, Ayano's body had shifted slightly. She slowly leaned backwards while the small of her back arched. The hands that had abandoned Enraiha minutes before when she passed out began to move again. They drew together and turned palms down to rest on her chest. When they moved again something else emerged with them. A blue, burning fire ball appeared from her chest.

Kazuma instantly knew what Bernhardt had done. _The crazy bastard managed to summon the divine flame_, he thought. Before he had time to react Lapis materialized in front of Ayano. She was already in the process of chanting a spell which could only be meant to capture the Flame Spirit Lord. Kazuma was on a path to intercept her when Ayano's head, which had hung limp before, suddenly came up. Her crimson eyes were open and glowed bloody red while her hands locked around the other woman's wrists.

"Lifeless husk, you are not worthy of this power," the girl's voice declared for all present to hear.

Fire erupted from Ayano's clasped fingertips. Lapis shrieked as the flames enveloped her. She was being purified. Sensing his pawn was about to be annihilated, Bernhardt snapped his fingers. The summoning circle flickered and then vanished. The divine flame flared brightly, and then shot up into the night sky. It streaked through the sky at impossible speed until it disappeared behind Mount Fuji.

Lapis stumbled backwards, breathing heavily while Ayano's eyes rolled back into her head and she fell towards the ground. Kazuma caught her before she could hit the dirt. He summoned the wind to whisk them away from the ground; concerned there could be more spell traps hidden beneath the leaves. He did not have to look to know that both Lapis and Bernhardt had already made their escape.

He raised a hand over her head and a faint light lit her features. The signature presence that each Kannagi family member could sense in one another had vanished. It made her feel almost foreign in his arms not to sense her spiritually in such a way. His eyes closed to focus on diagnosing what had happened to her. Her life force was there; yet it felt off some how. It seemed that something had been ripped right from her soul. Kazuma opened his eyes to stare down at her when he noticed what he had completely missed in the darkness of the night.

With his hand illuminating her face, he could clearly make out a change in the girl. Ayano's signature fuchsia hair was now a raven black. He could only imagine under her closed lids that her once ruby-hued eyes were now likely a different color. Such a transformation, partnered with the internal changes noted by his diagnosis, could only mean that she no longer retained the divine flame within her soul. It was bad news. Never in all his youma-hunting experience had he come across any summoning magic capable of ripping a divine spirit right out of a person. He had to get in touch with Jugo about it as soon as possible. He or the old man might know something about the circle.

With that thought in mind, Kazuma made to take off in the direction of the Kannagi family home, but at the last second, hesitated. His eyes flitted back over Ayano's features. It would not be wise to bring Ayano to the house while she appeared as she did. He knew well enough that the loss of Enraiha would not stay a secret in such a busy place. One loose-lipped maid would be all it took to send word to the other Kannagi family members. Jugo could lose his position, or worse, the family members might challenge Ayano's right to her title as heir. He could not be sure how much power she had lost until she regained consciousness. A challenge could potentially be downright deadly for the girl. The man cared little for Kannagi family politics, but the threat of injuring Ayano or her fragile self-confidence was enough for him to take action. Ayano would have to stay at his place for the moment; at least until he spoke with Jugo and got a better handle on the situation. With the decision made, Kazuma took to the sky again in the direction of his hotel room.

Kazuma landed a short distance from his hotel, shrugged off his jacket and threw it across Ayano's front to cover up her shredded uniform. It was not that he cared what the staff thought; it was more concern that her recognizable uniform might tip off the non-Kannagi family Jugo often employed to keep tabs on the city. His senses were on full alert, and he would pick up just about anything, but it never hurt to be careful. He shifted the girl in his arms and summoned the wind to blast his cheeks and Ayano's cheeks for a few seconds with some very cold air. The chilly wind gave them the appearance of a deep blush, though he noted with some concern that it failed to rouse the girl in the slightest. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he began to head towards the hotel, adopting a sluggish, drag-footed swagger. To everyone who might be watching, Kazuma appeared to be just another drunken college guy. When he approached the doorman, the man laughed and shook his head.

"Women just can't hold their liquor, eh?" He grinned.

Kazuma paused as if he were too drunk to process the question quickly, then nodded and laughed loudly, "Heh, yeah, I tried to tell her she ha-had too much, but no-o-o she's too s-stubborn."

"They never do, sir." The doorman replied and allowed him in.

Kazuma headed for the elevator and leaned against the wall as he fiddled with the buttons for show. He kept up the charade even in the elevator by punching the number for several different floors before he picked the correct one. He hated that he would have to wait longer to get back to his place, but all the elevators these days had cameras installed in them. His privacy was not assured until he was safe in his room. After what seemed an eternity to his nerves, the doors finally opened to his floor, and he staggered as fast as he dared allow to his room.

Once he was safely inside, he immediately dropped the act. His brow creased with concern as he carried her to his bed. He set her down on it gently, though he could not fathom why, it was not like she was fragile or anything in that instant. Safe in his room he had a chance to really inspect just what damage had been done. His eyes immediately fell on the gaping hole in her shirt. The clothing of her shirt and jacket, even though they had been treated with magical wards, had been burned away. The hole was just as big as the orb that had come out of her chest. The skin that peeked through the hole was slightly red, as if it had been sun burnt; otherwise physically she seemed to be all in order.

His dark eyes drifted to her face for a moment to check that she was still unconscious before he performed his next task. Even with the artificial blush he had managed to induce, she seemed terribly pale. He frowned before turning his attention down to her chest. His fingers moved to the bared skin and hesitated for a split second. For a moment he thought that it was far less fun to stare at her when she was not aware enough to get angry about it. However, on second thought, he could always tell her later and enjoy her reaction then.

He could not resist the smirk that tugged his lips upwards. Ayano was bound to give him hell when she woke up. She would be red faced and furious at him for taking her to his place. She'd probably think he had taken advantage of her. The smirk quickly fell to a frown as another thought hit him. _If_ she woke up she would be angry. He had to figure out what was wrong with her; quickly.

His palm made contact with her skin. Dark eyes widened. Her skin had always been several degrees warmer than it should due to her hot-blooded heritage. So close to her heart her flesh should have burned still hotter. Yet, this night she felt nearly clammy. At least he could still feel her heartbeat and sense her life force, he reasoned. No reason for alarm just yet.

Kazuma closed his eyes and focused his thoughts again. The lower wind spirits had not been able to tell him much more. A huge part of her soul had been torn away from her. The wind spirits whispered that her soul bled.

Frustrated, he murmured, "What the hell does that mean?"

His fingers itched to ball into a fist and pound something—anything—for some decent answers. Bernhardt was the obvious choice, but he doubted how much the man really knew about the spell. Judging from his reaction to the spell with Lapis, Kazuma suspected he had not anticipated the result. He realized that his concentration had broken with the thought so he took a slow, calming breath. This time though, he reached out to the Wind Spirit Lord. It took good deal of his energy to simply speak with the big guy but he doubted anyone else would be able to give him answers. After several minutes he began to sweat with exertion until he felt a sense of tugging on the edges of his consciousness. Relieved, he turned his attention in the direction of the movement, in response the air in his room seemed to grow heavy. Suddenly, the feeling vanished and with a disgruntled gasp, he was released from his concentration.

Kazuma fell back onto the bed, where his head thumped against Ayano's thigh. He rubbed his temples as his skull had begun to throb from all the stress he had put on his mind focusing.

"Damn it, why won't you answer me?" He hissed out loud.

Just when he was about to let his impotent rage boil over the wind spirits began to whisper to him. "_Wait_," they said, "_our Lord has heard the call but could not answer directly, lest he shatter your human soul_." The man relaxed visibly and heaved a low sigh, relieved that the Spirit Lord had not rejected his call.

_Will she be all right_, he asked. The spirits said no. "_Her soul had been bound to Enraiha; it should never have been torn away. The girl's spirit will bleed away from her much as a mortal wound would a human unless Enraiha is returned_."

His next question followed quickly: "_had Enraiha returned to the Fire Spirit Lord?"_ There was a slight hesitation from the wind spirits and he got the impression that they were experiencing some level of discomfort, however he could care less.

"_Please," _he urged, "_was Enraiha back with the Fire Spirit Lord?"_

There was a hesitant negative from the spirits.

Eventually they spoke. "_It would be impossible to know where the Spirit Lord was until Enraiha located the Lord_. _It might be a day or a week, but the contractor will be the first to know. However, the girl will be the one who will have to prove to the Spirit Lord that she is worthy to take back Enraiha_."

"_A challenge_…?"

"_Quite likely_," the spirits concurred, "_though we wonder if the girl would survive it. Losing Enraiha will strip her of her strength, her powers, and her resistance to fire."_

Kazuma bit back another curse that threatened to come forth before another thought struck him. He hated to ask it, but he had to know.

"_How long does she have?"_

"_It depends on her will to live." _

It was all they would say on the matter; and the vague response left him no less concerned. The wind spirits had no further explanations to give so he sent several off to follow Enraiha's trail.

With a sigh, he ran his fingers through his brown hair with one hand while he reached for his cell phone with the other. He wondered how the normally calm and reserved Jugo might react to the terrible news. Would he yell like his father? Then he thought about it; calling Jugo in the middle of the night would get everyone talking. The maids always answered the phones at night and it would not take them much time to figure out that his daughter was likely the reason for it. Word would spread and everyone would worry and someone would track them down. Yes, it would be far better to hold off on any calls until the next morning.

He sat up to watch Ayano and wondered if he ought to wake her. Unconsciously, one of his hands crawled across the bed to where her black hair spread across the pillow and mattress. When he felt the silky smoothness of it on his fingertips he was relieved to find it was still just as soft as the last time he'd touched it. Before he knew it, he had lifted one of the locks to his lips, closed his eyes, and remembered the time he had kissed her hair. She felt the same and smelled the same, but would she be the same person when she woke? He had failed to protect her like he had failed to protect Tsui Ling… would she also bear a grudge against him like Lapis? The memory of that terrible night came back to him in an instant. It hit him so hard he released his hold on her hair, and it slid through his fingers like sand.

For a while his mind was overwhelmed with terrible memories. A strange, yet familiar feeling of hatred welled up in his mind and threatened to spill over. The wind spirits howled in his mind—or was it his own mind screaming? He was lingering dangerously on the edge of falling into the thrall of his old personality.

Something brushed his elbow and his reddish-brown eyes snapped to the source of the sensation. They immediately softened. Ayano's fingers had curled around his elbow. The rage completely vanished when he suddenly realized how cold they were. His dark eyes slid from her hand to her face to check if she was awake, but her eyes remained closed. He was a little relieved she was still asleep, but her chilly hands concerned him. If she was like a normal human girl, then it was entirely possible she might have a problem with low blood pressure. Since most hotel rooms were heavily air-conditioned then she was likely catching cold from it—that; and the giant hole in her shirt.

"Oh, I'm so going to catch hell for this…"

Kazuma told the unconscious girl as he pushed off from the edge of the bed and stalked towards a nearby dresser. He rifled through his neatly-folded clothing until he produced a t-shirt. He stood there, staring at the shirt for a moment. Then he got an idea he just could not resist. A familiar impish grin quirked the edges of his lips upwards. He returned the shirt to his drawer and instead headed into a nearby closet where he sought out his most expensive button-downs. There he recovered an imported Italian cotton black button-down shirt from his wardrobe and then headed back over to the bed.

Ayano's badly torn uniform top was in shambles. The fire ball from Enraiha had burned through every layer she had on—even her bra. He did not indulge in staring at her as he gently eased her out of her clothing. Of course, when she woke up he'd tell her differently just to make her mad. All the other times her clothing had been shredded in combat he had always claimed that he looked, but in reality he never did try. That was the sort of thing a girl like her should willingly show off, after all.

Getting off Ayano's skirt, shoes, and knee socks proved to be a less note-worthy affair. Soon after, he managed to maneuver her under the covers of his bed. He sat by her side and monitored her temperature for a few minutes until it became obvious that she was not warming up nearly as much as he would have liked. With a sigh he shed his own clothes, donned a comfortable cotton t-shirt and shorts, and slipped into bed next to her. He pulled her close to his body in a spooned position. Kazuma resisted the urge to shiver at how chilly she felt initially. Gradually, her body warmed and he was able to relax. The scent of her hair and the way her figure perfectly molded against his beckoned him to rest. The last thought that crossed his mind before sleep enveloped him was, "_I'll fix this, I'll make this better for you, I promise…_"


	3. The Dreamer's Call

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In the early morning hours, Ayano awoke to an unfamiliar room. Squinting in the half-light, she discovered that the blinds were drawn. She got the vague impression that her surroundings were familiar, yet she had never viewed it from the vantage of a bed and therefore could not quite confirm her location. Under the covers something warm shifted slightly until she was suddenly pulled back against a larger warm something. Her heart began to race as a realization began to dawn on her. Tentatively, the hand that had not been trapped when she had turned to sleep on her side began to inch towards the warmth encasing her middle. Her fears were quickly confirmed when she felt the knuckles of a male's hand.

The hand shifted suddenly, capturing her fingertips. Her mouth went dry, and she tried to wriggle out of the man's embrace. Unfortunately, her movements only caused the man's arm to tighten up. His grip was gentle, but unbreakable. A deep voice emanated from behind her, raising goose bumps on her skin where his breath tickled her neck.

"Go back to sleep, Ayano. It's too early to be up yet."

"Ka-Kazuma?" She squeaked out, eyes wide.

Without missing a beat, he replied, "No, it's the boogeyman. Boo."

He waited for her characteristic rage to boil over but it never came. Instead, she was quiet for a long moment before finally asking, "What am I—how did I? Are we in your hotel room?"

His brow furrowed. He normally knew her volatile temper quite well and could always guess exactly what her furious reply would be. However, this time he was mistaken. It seemed that even her personality might have been affected by Enraiha's absence. He decided he ought to try and test his theory out and push her a little further.

"Does it look like you're at home? Don't you remember what we did last night?"

"What we did?" Her mind was a tangled mess of confusion as she tried to work out what had happened the night before. The suggestive manner of his voice did not help.

"I remember we were fighting Lapis and Bernhardt, and then Bernhardt tried to trap me in a circle of binding, and then, and then…" Her voice trailed off. The last thing she could remember was a flash of bright red light.

Kazuma released her suddenly. He shifted and scooted upright until his back was against the headrest. He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes in thought. "That's all you remember?"

"And pain," Ayano answered truthfully, then gasped and checked her body for injuries. It was then that she noticed the t-shirt. "Where're my clothes, and what am I doing in your bed?!" She bellowed.

Kazuma had to work hard to keep his confident smirk from turning in to a genuine smile. Hearing the rage finally build in her voice gave him some hope that she was not completely changed. As if to emphasize her point, Ayano crawled out of bed and stood beside it with her hands on her hips. Her dark eyes shimmered with unbridled fury as she glared at the grinning man.

"Answer me, Kazuma! What the hell am I doing here?"

He could not resist the innocent response. "Well, you _were_ sleeping."

"I can see that much, and where are my clothes?" She huffed and tugged a little on the stiff collar of his shirt where it tickled her jaw. He had to admit she looked quite nice in it.

"Gone," was his cryptic reply, his eyes trailing up and down her figure a few times just to aggravate her a little further. He watched her huff and puff while she pulled absently at his collar before adding,

"Hey, princess, be careful with that shirt. It's expensive; unless you feel like paying for it? I'm sure your father won't mind."

She gave a frustrated grunt and stomped over to the nearest closet to try and locate her uniform. The contractor had figured she'd search around so he waited until she located her burned scraps of clothing folded neatly on top of her shoes near the back of the closet. Her grumbles grew quiet as she fingered the charred edges of what had once been her uniform top.

Finally, her voice came out in a hushed gasp, "Kazuma, what happened to this?"

"You should be asking about what happened to _you_." He replied as his face took on a more somber look.

He waited until she looked back at him, and he knew he had her full attention. For a moment, Ayano thought she spied a softer look in his eyes; one that she had only witnessed for Ren. She realized quickly that it was genuine concern. The thought that he was worried about her was both alarming and elating all at the same time. It must have been bad if the mighty contractor was worried, after all. But it was also exciting to know that he cared.

The fearful expression on her face made Kazuma rethink explaining everything to her just yet. Perhaps it would be best to talk to Jugo first?

"I have a few theories, but I need to do a bit of digging before I explain it all to you. Besides, I need to call your father and explain why you missed your curfew." He paused and gave her figure another sweep with his eyes, just to make her squirm a little more, "Unless you'd like to try your hand at it?"

Ayano grimaced and backed away slowly. "Oh-ho no, you can have him!"

The contractor nodded and scooted out of bed, "As you wish."

She stared at his back as he sauntered over to an end table holding a mother of pearl edged wooden tray. The tray held his wallet, a pack of cigarettes, keys, and cell phone; the last of which he picked up and began dialing. Ayano blushed fiercely when she realized he had slept next to her in little more than a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt. She could only imagine what kinds of perverted thoughts he might have had when he climbed into bed that night, or worse, what he might have done to her in her sleep. It was a mortifying thought to say the least, and it consumed her thoughts to the point where she stopped paying attention to Kazuma.

While Ayano was busy internally cataloging all the naughty things Kazuma could have done to her while she was asleep, the man at the center of her thoughts was busy calling the Kannagi residence. The phone rang twice before a maid picked it up. He was relieved to find that her voice was cheery. That was a good thing. The maids were obviously not preoccupied with a search for Ayano. He was quickly put through to Jugo. The head of the Kannagi household was the first to speak.

"Before you ask, I want you to know that this line is secured and can't be overheard on any of the other landline phones in this house. I told the maids that my daughter spent the night at a friend's house. Now, I know that she did not, so tell me what has really happened."

Kazuma had to give the man credit; he certainly knew how to cover his bases even in the face of uncertainty. "Ayano's here at my place."

Ayano's flush deepened when she heard his obvious statement. He made it sound like it was so normal for her to have spent the night! It had all the implications of a romantic encounter. Her father had always told her that she had a strict curfew because a Kannagi had to keep strict moral appearances. She was going to be in **huge** trouble. The mortifying thought was enough to send her skittering from the room. She did not even want to be in the same room as the phone when Kazuma explained what had happened to her uniform.

Ayano made for the front door, then thought better of it when she remembered her lack of clothing (how humiliating!) and fumed impotently in the living room. Her eyes scanned the room until they fell upon the breakfast bar. Her brown eyes began to twinkle. Her partner should have to pay for her heaping doses of humiliation. What better way than to raid his refrigerator and eat up all that over-priced hotel food? He would have to pay for each individual piece of food she ate, after all.

0

Ayano's exit went exactly as he had hoped. He proceeded to explain all the important elements surrounding Bernhardt's attack without interruption, or the concern that the shocking news would come too harshly to the girl. In Ayano's current state, the contractor had no clue how that awful news might affect the wound in her soul. He would not chance explaining it to her until he had some more information from Jugo. When he was finished Jugo sighed.

"This is exactly why I did not permit her outside past curfew."

"What?" Kazuma was surprised; he had heard Ayano mention a curfew a few times in passing but had never given it much thought. He would have ignored it anyway.

Jugo sighed, "I forgave her tardiness because I knew she would be with you. However, I enforced that rule for a very good reason—"

"The fire spirits are naturally weakened at night." Kazuma finished for him with an inward groan. "And that would make it easier to call out the Fire Lord from a Kannagi."

"Those were my thoughts exactly." Jugo confirmed.

"What other thoughts do you have?"

"Mm, I won't have any helpful thoughts until I do a little research. For now, though, I'll need you to listen carefully."

0

Ayano was munching away on her second pilfered apple when Kazuma sauntered into the living room. She pretended not to notice him as she finished it and washed her hands in a nearby sink.

"I'm glad you found something to eat. It's a good thing that this hotel bill goes right to Jugo's line of credit." Kazuma nodded towards the bowl of fruit the girl had been snacking on. He smirked when she blanched and then began grumbling.

"You're so damned greedy! Ooh! It makes me sick!" She huffed as she stormed into the living room and began pacing back and forth near the coffee table.

The wind user was relieved to see she was in a perfectly foul mood; it meant she must have been feeling somewhat better. It was also highly amusing to him to note that she did not ask about what her father had said to him. If he had the time, he would have teased her mercilessly with it, alas, that was not to be.

He sighed and cleared his throat, "Ayano."

She ignored him and continued to pace a few more rounds before she mustered up the courage to ask, "So, how long am I grounded?"

"You're not grounded. You're going on vacation."

That gave her pause. She came to a stop, and then spun around to face him, her dark eyes filled with suspicion. "What do you mean vacation?"

Despite the situation he couldn't help himself, "Oh you know; warm places, white sand beaches, skimpy bikinis…vacation."

Ayano glared daggers at him, "It's January."

Kazuma raised his hands in the air in mock surrender, "Well gee, if you're going to complain about it…"

He could almost hear the sound of Ayano's temper snapping. The raven haired temptress stormed towards him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "What the hell is going on Kazuma? Tell me damn it!"

The magic user grinned at her. If she had been watching him carefully enough, she might have caught the faintest hint of concern that flickered over his features when she held him. Her strength was significantly weaker than he had remembered it. Regardless, he kept his game face on.

"All right, all right, Ayano. I'll tell you, just let me go." When she reluctantly complied he hardened his gaze into a more serious look. "We need to go to my safe house for a little bit."

Ayano was instantly on the alert. "Why? What happened?"

Kazuma ran his fingers through his hair in a way that unsettled her. He was more concerned than he had been letting on and for a moment, he'd shown it. After a few minutes of thinking, he continued.

"You remember that fight with Lapis and Bernhardt, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"Well, he took something from you: Enraiha."

"Wh-What? How? How is that possible? No, it can't be."

Kazuma sighed as she shook her head and took a step backwards. She looked down at her hand and opened and closed her fingers a few times. He knew she was trying to call Enraiha, but nothing happened. With a wave of his wrist he called the wind to lick at her hair, sending the dark wisps towards her line of sight where she caught them, and then gasped again when she realized they were as black as coal.

"My hair…" She murmured, stumbling back until the backs of her legs hit the sofa, and she fell into it.

"We'll get Enraiha back." Kazuma interrupted her thoughts before she could focus too heavily upon her discovery. "But first, we need to get out of here, lay low for a while. I'm taking you to a safe house."

Ayano blinked, canting her head to the side as she stared up at him from her seat with a quizzical expression on her face. "Why do _we_ need to hide?"

Mahogany eyes rolled at the emphasis on the word. "_You_ don't have any powers at the moment so _I_ have to do my job and protect you. Sorry princess, but you're stuck with me for now. As for why we need to hide, well, you should have already figured that out by now."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she thought for a moment. A tiny surprised sound escaped her lips when it finally dawned on her, "the Kannagi family?"

"Very good, princess. Yes, I'm sure you can guess. The Kannagi family would turn into a big mess of power grabs, if anyone discovered that Jugo's heir lost Enraiha."

He didn't miss her disgruntled snort, or her muttering, "Shouldn't you be happy about turning the Kannagi family into a big mess?"

Kazuma had anticipated her response and he already had the perfect lie for it, "Normally, I'd say let them burn, but then I'd be out of a job, now wouldn't I? That surely would be a lot of money to lose."

He couldn't let her know that her life would always trump his revenge schemes any day, not yet anyway. If he had told her the complete truth; that her soul was bleeding away the longer she remained out of contact with Enraiha, then something worse could happen.

When Ayano did not respond, he stretched as if to limber up and said, "Right, then. We've wasted enough time here."

He ambled back into his bedroom and returned moments later with the heavy winter jacket he normally sported during that time of year. Instead of shouldering it though, he tossed it at Ayano. When she gave him an incredulous look (she had never needed one in the winter before), he explained in a bored tone that she would be cold outside without the inner warmth of Enraiha. She fussed when she put it on about her lack of pants to which he was tempted to say something to aggravate her but chose not to at the last second because he did not want to dally any further. Instead he explained that he would buy her some new clothes when they got there.

Kazuma dragged the embarrassed girl out the door, down the hall, and to the elevators. When they made it to the ground floor, he chose to exit out the back of the hotel. Ayano was perplexed when the cold air hit her legs. It had been years since she had ever felt cold, and the foreign sensation caused her to stare at her appendages. She had little time to explore her feelings on cold air before a dark car pulled up in front of them. Kazuma ushered her inside and plopped down beside her.

Ayano was shocked to see Kirika Tachibana in the drivers' seat. Their eyes met in the rear view mirror for a moment before Kirika gasped and twisted in her seat to look at her, then at Kazuma.

"Is that—" She began.

Kazuma intercepted her unspoken question, "No, it isn't and you didn't see anything, all right? I need you to take us to the place I told you about before."

Kirika's expression became grave, and she nodded once before turning back in her seat. Seconds later, Ayano felt the car lurch forward; a sign that they were headed out. Ayano watched the scenery zip by from the window instinctively. She absently noted they seemed to be leaving the city and wondered where Kazuma's secret hideout would be. _Knowing him, it's probably a brothel_, she mused darkly, leaning her head against the cold window glass. The shocking sensation of the cold on her skin made her jump back from the window as if she'd been bitten. Ayano wasn't sure if she liked cold all that much if it felt so unpleasant. Perhaps Kazuma really did have a point about not liking it? She shot a look in the contractor's direction to see if he had been watching, but found him leaned back against the seat with his arms tucked behind his head, and his eyes closed. Ayano rolled her eyes and turned back towards the window, but laid her head against the headrest instead. It wasn't long before she was lulled to sleep by the gentle movement of the car, and the whispers of the wind rushing past the windows.

0

Her dreams were filled with images of fire, and the sound of a woman calling out her name. Ayano instinctively reached towards the flickering flames that licked tenderly at her skin in response. She smiled at the feeling and allowed the fire to encircle her body while the woman's voice called louder; closer than it had been before. Realization dawned upon her slowly; the voice sounded urgent and angry. Her heart chilled in her chest, and she raised a hand to touch the spot. The moment she touched it, her skin her fingers felt wet and sticky. Her eyes drifted down to look at her hand and widened when she saw blood. Ayano gasped and looked down at her chest and found a deep gaping hole where she should have been whole. The warmth from the flames that had once embraced her now seemed to feel unbearably hot, and she cried out in pain and confusion.

The woman's voice chattered right in her ear, but she couldn't bring herself to listen over the intense heat and pain that threatened to consume her body. Panicking, she called out to the one person who could help her: Kazuma. When there was no response, she tried again and again. Just as she was about to give up all hope and let the flames take her she felt a cool breeze on her cheek and Kazuma's urgent plea.

"Ayano, wake up! Wake up right now!"


	4. The Long Night

**Woo! Lookit that! Another chapter update! Much thanks again to Winnow for the editing/cleanup/format help. More thanks to my idea muse, too. You guys are the best!**

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Ayano woke up thrashing. Strong hands grasped her forearms, holding her down tightly. Her eyes snapped open to find Kazuma staring down at her, his eyes wide with an expression she had never witnessed before. She stilled in his grip, her breath hitched as it fought to catch up with her hyperventilation.

"Ayano, are you awake now?" Kazuma asked. When she nodded the foreign expression gradually left his features and was replaced with one of relief. He sank down on to what she now recognized as a bed and at the same time released her arms. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he willed his heart to stop hammering in his chest.

"What happened?" He asked quietly as he turned his eyes back on hers.

Ayano was quiet as she slid her elbows to each side of her body and levered her torso up into a sitting position. She hung her head low and let her hair and long bangs slide forward to obscure her face.

"Ayano?" Kazuma persisted, the slightest hint of raw, fearful concern colored his voice. He leaned forward slightly; one hand shifted and readied itself to push away her hair to get a better view of her face. A movement in her shoulders caught his eye; they were shaking.

Suddenly, she lunged forward, a ragged sob tore past her lips as her arms wrapped tightly about his neck. She buried her face in his chest and shuddered as the memory of the terrible pain swept through her. He went rigid from the sudden contact. He had seen Ayano upset before. He'd seen her cry before. But the desperation with which she clung to him was downright scary.

The sensation of wetness on the front of his shirt galvanized him into action. Slowly he raised his arms and settled them around her shoulders. While he waited for her to ride out her tears and speak, he reached out with his mind to question the wind spirits who had alerted him to Ayano's distressed state in the first place. They, in turn, replied that she had been in contact with a high-level spirit. He asked if it had been the Fire Spirit Lord. They said the Lord had indeed tried to, but a different spirit had been the one primarily communicating with her. Kazuma filed the information away for later contemplation and returned his focus back to Ayano; who had calmed down considerably.

She heaved a deep sigh and pushed away from him to scrub at her eyes and cheeks with her fingers. "Sorry," She muttered without looking at him.

"It's all right. I'll just charge you for the shirt later." He joked, hoping to get a rise out of her to ease the heaviness in the air.

She frowned but would not take the bait. Instead, she looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. They were in an incredibly large bedroom decorated in minimalist, modern touches of dark woods and off-white fabrics. There were floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere on every wall except the one that the bed was situated against with the bed pointed towards the other three windowed walls. The bedroom itself was nothing in comparison to the incredible view it revealed of a long stretch of beach. Ayano could only imagine how beautiful the scenery must have looked in the midst of summer. For now though, the deciduous trees that spread out on either side of the house were barren of leaves; even then though, the view was quite impressive.

When she found her voice she had to ask, "_This_ is your safe house?"

"What? Did you think I'd shuffle you off to some underground bunker?" He ignored the look she shot him that seemed to say 'that wouldn't surprise me.'

"I suppose then that my father is paying for this house as well?" She grumbled.

It was Kazuma's turn to roll his eyes. "Hardly; this is my place. It wouldn't be wise to hide out in any house that was Kannagi-owned. Someone could easily find every safe house documented somewhere in the family records."

"It sure is a nice safe house…" Her look became immediately suspicious, "What'd you do, steal this from somebody?"

"Nope, just slept with the real estate agent," He gave her a cocky grin.

This time Ayano did rise to the bait. She growled and made to punch him in the shoulder; a move that was easily caught by the spry contractor. Her cheeks flooded with heat as he raised the offending fist to his lips and kissed her knuckles. When his eyes met hers, aglow with amusement her brain nearly short-circuited. She scrambled for something to say that would distract her from the feeling of her heart as it pounded away in her chest.

"I—ah—uh, where's Kirika?"

Kazuma dropped her hand and shrugged. "She left. She needs to get back to the city before anyone gets suspicious. Officially, we're on an undercover assignment in an unspecified location to identify and eliminate a youma nest."

"I see…" Now that she could breathe again she finally found the sense to ask a more pressing question. "So what happens next?"

The contractor stretched and stood up from the bed. "Well, I'm going out to score us some food and get you a change of clothes. As much as I like seeing you prance about in my shirt I think I should probably get you something to go shopping in before you destroy it."

Ayano huffed, "Well don't spend too much money if it's all going to be charged to my father—but don't think I'm about to go shopping in a burlap sack either, you got me?"

Kazuma couldn't help the appreciative grin that stole across his features, "Wow, you've gotten pretty sharp there. Fine, princess, I'll see what I can do."

"Do you even know my size?"

Oh, it was just too easy. "Of course, I've handled you enough times to know your measurements perfectly." With a flourish, he turned and headed out the bedroom door and called out behind, even while she sputtered protests in his wake, "Feel free to make yourself at home, by the way. Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

"I'm not an idiot, geez!" She hollered back.

His reply was a non-committal "uh-huh" before he waltzed out the front door.

0

An hour and a half later Kazuma returned to his beach front villa holding a shopping bag in one hand and a take-out bag in the other. Ayano ignored his entry. She sat curled up on a couch in the living room watching TV. A beige throw covered her bare legs and kept them warm. The contractor set the Styrofoam containers of food on the nearby kitchen table before wandering over to the living room and depositing the shopping bag next to the girl on the couch. Ayano, in turn, grabbed up the bag and scurried into the master bedroom she'd first awoken in.

She set the bag on the bed and fished through the tissue-wrapped objects, pulling out first an off-white pea coat. She begrudgingly gave Kazuma some credit as she slipped the coat over her shoulders to try it on. Ayano stepped in front of a floor-length mirror attached to the inside of a nearby closet door and smiled at her reflection. It was a _very_ cute coat, she had to admit, and it fit her perfectly. She quickly hung the coat up in the closet and returned to the bag. This time she discovered a matching off-white fuzzy sweater that clung to her in all the right places.

"_All right, Kazuma, you're two for two on clothing,"_ Ayano thought to herself as she wandered back to the bag, dug around, and emerged with a flush with something thin and lacy. She quickly identified it as a bra and grumbled about her embarrassment for several minutes until she was forced to admit to herself that she had little choice in the matter at that point, what with her bra having been destroyed when Enraiha was taken. At least, that was what Kazuma _said_ had happened. She eyed the garment contemptuously as if it were the bra's fault she was forced to wear such a skimpy thing. It failed to say anything snarky, so she decided to suck it up and wear it for the moment.

"_He'd probably like it a little too much if I went around bra-less anyway. That was probably his plan all along. Well, we'll see about that."_

A slightly more wary Ayano fished around in the bag and was again dismayed to find that he had bought a very tiny black skirt to go with her ensemble and matching thigh-high opaque stockings (which she liked but would never admit) in the same color as the skirt. As she pulled on the stockings she considered hiding out in her room for the rest of the day but the grumbling of her empty stomach quickly got the better of her.

Kazuma was halfway through his curry when he spotted Ayano shuffling down the hallway towards him. His eyes swept up and down her figure several times and briefly he thought he'd been a little too good at finding an outfit for her. He might not be able to concentrate well if she flounced around in that skirt; although he admitted her school uniform's skirt had not been much longer. A grin tugged at his lips which he quickly hid behind his chopsticks as she plopped down in the seat across from him. She sifted through the containers of food until she found what she wanted and set to work plowing through it.

The contractor finished up not long after and leaned back in his chair. He kept his eyes trained on her and watched with growing amusement as her cheeks reddened. She was most definitely aware that he was staring, but she made quite a show of ignoring it. That, of course, simply made things more entertaining for him. At the very least, he could enjoy her attitude a little while longer.

Not long later Ayano finished eating and instinctively began cleaning up the table. Kazuma waited until she had most of the uneaten food packed up and in the refrigerator before commenting.

"So you're finally learning the way things work, eh?"

Ayano raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

"Oh you know," he gestured towards the food she had packed away, "cleaning up after the men-folk and all that."

Kazuma deftly caught a package of noodles that came soaring towards his head. Ayano seethed and stomped away back into the living room. When she was out of earshot, he let loose a small chuckle, shook his head, and then followed her. He took up a position against one of the far walls and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Now that you're in a better mood," he began, "let's talk about your dream."

Ayano sat up a little in her seat; then made a fuss of tucking her legs underneath her for a moment while she collected her senses. After a few minutes, she felt a little more composed and began to explain.

"I was standing in a dark place, and then there were flames everywhere. I called to them, and they answered like I would if I were summoning them. Then I heard a woman's voice calling my name from far away. The flames got warmer an-and the voice got closer." She hesitated long enough to pull her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees, as if they alone could ease her discomfort at the memory, "I could feel her getting closer. The closer she got the hotter the flames burned. I-it hurt so bad, Kazuma. I didn't know what to do." Ayano frowned and rested her chin on top of her knees, curling tighter into herself, "Then I felt something in my chest. It was cold, and when I looked, _gods_, there was blood everywhere…this big hole, but it didn't hurt, _nothing_ hurt like the fire did. I-I was so scared, and then…" She decided not to mention that she had called for him, she figured he would tease her and call her weak, "I heard your voice, and I woke up."

The sight of Ayano looking so forlorn, so small, tugged at his heart. The old, helpless feeling he had experienced with Cui Ling jumped to the fore in his mind. He couldn't fight a dream. What was he supposed to do? Mahogany eyes followed her every move as she slowly uncurled and looked up at him. She had questions, he knew that, but he had no answers to give at the moment. He needed more time to think.

"Let's get out of here."

"Huh?" Ayano tilted her head to the side; confusion rapidly replaced the fear that had pulled at her soul.

"You heard what I said. There's a downtown area not too far from here. We need to get you some more clothes." When Ayano looked less than willing to go anywhere, he shrugged casually and added, "Or you could stay here and sleep in my shirt again. I wouldn't mind watching you walk around in that all night."

That got her moving. She was up in a flash and heading for the door, a string of angry curses floated behind in her wake. She quickly discovered a new pair of black boots waiting for her, and she complained to them as she put them on about how much of a jerk Kazuma was. Just as she was about to reach for the door handle and presumably leave the contractor behind, something dropped onto her shoulders. She blinked as she raised her hands to touch the object, quickly discovering it to be her new coat. The coat suddenly vacated her shoulders as Kazuma helped her into it. She felt his hands on her shoulders and nearly jumped when she felt his breath at her ear.

"You can't run out into the cold dressed like that anymore, princess. You'll need this."

His hands quickly retreated as her cheeks grew hot. She managed to stutter. "I-I knew that. I was gonna go get it!"

The contractor gave a snort before gliding around her to show her out the door. "Uh huh, just hurry up."

The moment she stepped out into the air, she flinched. It was already dark outside, and the wind was bitingly cold. She heard the click of the lock behind her, and then Kazuma breezed by her. The wind stopped abruptly as he did so, and she didn't miss the cocky smirk on his lips that let her know that he had caused it to stop.

She huffed and grumbled, "Show off," before following him down the winding driveway to a nearby street with sidewalks. They turned left and headed down the street towards an area in the distance that looked well lit. It wasn't an incredibly long walk to downtown, but it was just far enough that Ayano was chilled to the bone by the time they got there. Kazuma quickly pointed out the store where he had purchased her clothes, and Ayano headed there first. Normally, she would have ignored his judgment and looked for another store, but she was too desperate to get out of the cold. As she glanced back at his bundled up form, she wondered how he managed to tolerate the cold without the blessing of the Fire Spirit Lord; she was barely handling it as it was.

Fortunately, Kazuma seemed just as relieved as she was when they entered the store and started to warm up. A woman cheerfully greeted them and asked if they needed any help. Ayano politely waved her away and set to work combing through the racks of clothes. It felt strange having to pick through the heavier winter clothes she would have normally avoided like long sleeved shirts, sweaters, sweat shirts, and pants. Every time she looked up towards Kazuma, she caught him in various states of absolute boredom. She was half tempted to try on all the clothes she had just to make him wait longer, but when she saw that the changing room stalls were only covered by flimsy curtains she decided against it. It would be too simple a thing for the contractor to send a stray puff of wind her way while she was changing and then, well, she wouldn't think about how embarrassed she would be; nor think about all the lewd comments that would invariably spew from Kazuma's mouth for the rest of the night. When she was finally finished, she waved the wind user over and allowed him to pay for her things. As usual, he ignored her insistent stare that implied that he should help her with her bags. In the end, she was forced to carry them all.

They immediately headed back towards the beach house. Ayano struggled to keep a hold on all the bags and fussed with the handles constantly. Just when she had found a comfortable carrying position fate chose that moment to allow her foot to meet a small patch of ice on the sidewalk. With a gasp, she slipped backwards; her arms shot out to either side as she flailed impotently. She bounced onto her rear on the cold pavement with a yelp.

Groaning, the ex-fire user rubbed her back as she looked about to assess the damage to the bags of clothes she had flung in her panic. Instead of dirty clothes, she saw Kazuma standing in front of her with the bags hovering nearby.

"You really have to work on your landings," He commented dryly before walking off, the bags floated behind as if towed by invisible leashes.

Ayano spent the rest of the walk cursing the gods for ever allowing them to meet.

0

Back inside the beach house, Kazuma released the wind spell and allowed the bags to drop to the floor. They landed upright, but that didn't stop Ayano from screeching indignantly about it. She glared daggers at him as she yanked off her boots, grabbed up her bags, and then stormed down the hall to her room.

Meanwhile, the contractor relaxed comfortably on the sofa in the living room, allowing her plenty of time to hang up her new clothes and change into her pajamas. Irritable and sore from her fall, the ex-fire magic user flipped off the light in the room and crawled into bed, still fuming over Kazuma. Frustrated, Ayano closed her eyes and counted to ten.

The lights flipped back on.

Her eyes snapped open then squinted as they tried to adjust to the invasive light. "What the hell, Kazuma?" She growled.

The contractor raised an eyebrow at the flustered girl. "I should be asking you that question. What are you doing sleeping in _my_ bed?"

She scrabbled up into a sitting position, her voice rising in pitch with her anger. "_Your_ bed? But you put me in here when I—No! This is my bed. You _gave_ it to me when you put me _in_ it."

"I didn't give you anything. I simply put you in that bed so I could keep an eye on you while you were thrashing around in your sleep. You would have fallen out of the smaller bed in your room."

Ayano didn't want to think about her dream again, so she growled and flopped back over onto her side and tugged the blanket up around her shoulders. "Well forget it. I'm not going anywhere. All my clothes are in here and everything. I'm not hauling it back out." She squeezed her eyes shut and feigned sleep.

"Okay then, princess. You can sleep there."

She was surprised to hear him give in so easily, a smug, self-satisfied smile spread across her lips. "Good. Now shut off the light and let me sleep."

"Sure thing," He replied.

Behind her eyelids she could see when the light flipped back off. She sighed happily and snuggled back into her pillow. It seemed Kazuma had learned some common sense and decency after all.

The sound of footsteps caught her attention. She could hear some drawers being opened nearby.

"_He must be getting his things,"_ She thought to herself and relaxed again. The footsteps receded and everything became quiet again. Ayano took a deep breath and waited for sleep to claim her.

Suddenly, she felt the mattress shift and blankets rustled behind her. Once again, her eyes popped open when she realized Kazuma was climbing into bed next to her. Heat flared across her cheeks and neck when she spoke.

"Kazuma! What are you doing?"

His deep voice emanated behind her as he settled down. "I'm going to sleep in _my_ bed."

"I told you already that _I'm_ sleeping here. Go sleep somewhere else!" She hissed back.

"This is my bed, I paid for it, and I'm damn well going to sleep in it. If you don't like it, you can go sleep in your own room." The contractor replied in a calm voice.

The slight challenge to his voice was impossible for her to miss. She growled and tugged the blankets tighter around her shoulders. "This stupid trick of yours isn't going to get me to move, Kazuma. I'm not leaving!"

Suddenly, a pair of arms slithered around her and swept her towards the middle of the bed. His lips were at her ear, causing her to suppress a shiver when he spoke, even as she tried to protest.

"That sounds nice. I think I'll keep you here."

Ayano wriggled in his grip, but he held her firm, her heart hammered in her chest as she became keenly aware of the hard warmth of his torso against her back. She swore he could tell how much he riled her up and her body betrayed the stray thoughts of hope. No, but it couldn't be that. He simply loved to tease her; that was all. Perhaps that had been his game all along; to get her in his bed. The thought made her heart sink and words sprang unbidden to her lips.

"Please, let me go." She rasped.

His arms immediately released her, and she scrambled out of the bed and down the hall to a nearby bedroom—her room most likely. It didn't matter. She just wanted to lie down and forget that he toyed with her heart so.

0

Kazuma knew his joke had gone too far when he heard her speak. Wordlessly, he had freed her of him and watched as she stumbled away towards the guest bedroom. Part of him had hoped she would stay. Her soft curves fit so nicely against him and he could still pick up the sweet scent of her hair on the empty pillow next to him. Still, it was better if she moved on, he figured. He didn't deserve her affection if he could not protect her from Bernhardt. But, his mind argued, if he did manage to save her then couldn't he consider the possibility of a life with her? Bernhardt would have to die, of course, but after that maybe, just maybe, he could settle down.

Distressed wind spirits pulled Kazuma from unconsciousness only a few hours later. He lurched up in bed with a start, knowing they would only summon him for the one reason he had asked of them, Ayano. He stumbled from bed and hurried down the hall to the guest bedroom. His legs protested such sudden movement after having been at rest for a handful of hours, and he cursed at them for their sluggishness. Just outside the guest bedroom door he heard the dull thud of a body hitting the floor. Her name left his lips, and he burst through the door.

Ayano was on the floor; her eyes wide open with shock. Her nightmare had repeated itself again, and she had tossed and turned her way right off the double bed in her riled state. The jarring sensation had immediately woken her only to get the fright of her life when Kazuma burst in a heartbeat later shouting her name. He dropped to his knees next to her and gathered her in his arms.

"Ayano, talk to me! Are you okay?"

The ex-fire user was speechless. She had never seen such a panicked expression on his face before. He was always in control of the situation. It was unnerving to see him so concerned. When she didn't respond right away he shook her roughly. It was enough for her to recall the workings of her vocal chords.

"Ka-Kazuma, stop shaking me." She mumbled stupidly.

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, without thinking he pulled her to his chest and squeezed her tightly. "Gods, Ayano, don't scare me like that!"

Ayano had only seen him cling to her like that once before and it startled her, "Who-ah-who are you? And where have you put, Kazuma?" She muttered breathlessly as he nearly squeezed the air from her lungs.

The contractor relaxed his grip on her shoulders slightly but did not let go. "Idiot. What happened? Was it another dream?"

Ayano shivered and nodded as the memory of her dream assailed her. "Yes. It was almost the same as it was last time. The fire called and then started to burn me. This time, I tried to listen to the woman. It was hard to hear her over roaring flames, but I did hear her say that she was coming."

He let go of her enough to watch her face. "Coming for what?"

Ayano shrugged and shivered again. "I don't know, but," her voice caught in her throat and she tried to swallow to clear the nagging thickness in it, "but I don't want to go back to sleep again."

Kazuma sighed and shifted until his hand was tucked under her feet. With practiced ease he drew up until he was standing and carried her back towards his room. Surprisingly, she made no protest even when he set her down on the bed and climbed in next to her.

"Just stay next to me. I'll keep watch over your dreams." He murmured gently.

Wordlessly, she nodded and made to turn over away from him but was forced to stop when his arms snaked around her and drew her to his chest. Her eyes were locked on to his collarbone for several minutes until she felt his chin settle atop her head. Here again was the more foreign part of Kazuma to her. This was the part of him that seemed to care so much for everyone. She was never quite sure if that particular trait was the real Kazuma or merely an act put on by his cold and calculating mind to maintain control in emotional situations. As his arms tightened slightly around her shoulders, she saw a more pronounced rise and fall to his chest; as if he was breathing in the scent of her hair. A new thought wormed its way into her mind at the sight. Perhaps, the coldness was an act to hide the fact that he cared too much? She smiled a little to herself as her eyes grew heavy. Could it really be so simple? If it was true then it was entirely possible that all of his boastings of his claim on her really was true. Then maybe, just maybe, there was hope for their relationship after all.


	5. More Questions Than Answers

**Quick reader's question: Can Kazuma or Ayano see auras normally? Or do the spirits normally just tell them what's going on?**

**Sorry about the massive delay, guys, it couldn't be helped. I had to go to a wedding in another state and then immediately following that I was busy moving out of our college apartment and into our temporary residence where we'll wait to find out where my fiance will be heading for law school. Unfortunately it took us two weeks before we could get internet hooked up at our new location; so that's why it took me so long to get back. We also have to do some renovations at this house so, again, I can make few promises on steady updates. **

**I should have updates to most of my stories on the way soon. I haven't had any time to write but I've had plenty of time to think about what I've wanted to add. Thank you all for those who have waited patiently for me during this time! I hope my updates don't disappoint. **

**Final Note: This chapter was supposed to be much longer but I really felt like I just needed to get something out there. I hope this is enough for now. I'm trying to work as much as I can!**

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Ayano slept peacefully through the rest of the night. In fact, she slept so soundly that for once Kazuma woke before she did. He gave her a quick onceover to make sure her spirit was doing okay before crawling out of bed. Several spirits were called upon to keep an eye on her lest her nightmares return.

The wind user was not a morning person and, regardless of what he wanted to do for his charge he took his sweet time getting ready that morning. He took a long shower, then dragged on some clothes, and then finally wandered into the kitchen to start dinner. For the first time in a long while he was glad for his memories of his time with Cui Ling because it made him a particularly good cook. He easily threw together a nice omelet dish.

Kazuma was almost finished when a sleepy Ayano wandered in. She had draped herself in one of the bed sheets and eyed his back warily.

"You're cooking." The way she said it led Kazuma to believe she could barely believe it.

"Well you're the observant one today." The wind user quipped without looking up from his frying pan. Moments later with the last omelet finished he eased it off onto a plate and brought it to the kitchen table. She sat down across from him and waited expectantly for the food that had obviously been made for the two of them. The wind user ignored her and began to cut up one of the omelets.

When he made no move to serve her she huffed. "Kazuma! Aren't you forgetting something?"

He glanced up at her as if he had just seen her for the first time and pretended to contemplate her question. Ayano leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest; her irritation growing with every thoughtful chewing motion he made. After so many years of knowing him she could just _tell_ that he was getting ready to say something she wasn't going to like hearing.

On cue he snapped his fingers, as if in sudden realization, and pushed away from the table to reach over to a nearby counter. He quickly grabbed a pepper shaker and in one swift move gave his omelet a douse of seasoning before he resumed his eating. Ayano growled and scooted up from her chair, stomped over to the kitchen cabinets, grabbed a plate and then stormed back over to the table. Fork in hand, the girl scooped the other uneaten omelet onto her own plate and slapped it down in front of her seat. She tore into her meal with gusto for several minutes as her rage peaked... but then quickly waned as silence fell between them. She ended up leaving a small portion of food behind, of which Kazuma took silent note. He had a feeling her decreased appetite might be yet another symptom of her disconnection from Enraiha.

Ayano found that she simply wasn't in the mood to stay angry at the Contractor today. She still felt a little worn down from last night's awful nightmare, although, as she thought more about that time she could not help the blush that crept into her cheeks at the thought of Kazuma rushing to her aid. If she closed her eyes she could still feel his breath as it puffed against her forehead when he held her close... She wondered if he had held her like he would Ren if he was the one having a bad dream... or was it something more? It was always hard to tell with him. Ayano knew he cared deeply for others; more so than he let on. It could have been an instinctive act on his part to hold her.

Kazuma watched her intently while the wind spirits chattered about the strange shifts in her energy signature. Her aura would flutter strongly for a second, then fade, then flare up again just as suddenly. He guessed she was deep in thought about something and if he had to guess anything it likely involved him; he could tell by the way her eyes refused to meet his. He sighed internally and grabbed up both plates of food and went about cleaning everything up.

Ayano watched his back as he cleaned the dishes and grasped at something to talk about. "So, what happens today?"

"Well, princess, that is entirely up to you." He replied over the noise of the running water in the kitchen sink. "Meanwhile, I've got to go out today and check out some leads on where Enraiha may have jetted off to."

"Shouldn't I come with you, then?" She responded, perturbed.

Finishing with the dishes, the Contractor turned off the water and turned towards her, wiping his hands on a nearby towel as he spoke, "Normally, I'd say yes..." Kazuma knew he'd have to be completely candid with her for once on his plans for the day if he wanted her to agree with them, "...But Bernhardt is likely looking for Enraiha as well and if we cross paths he'll use your vulnerability to his own advantage. I don't like leaving you alone as it is but I think it's more likely that he's more interested in finding Enraiha than you at the moment."

"So then, I should just hide out here and wait for you to come back?" Ayano was not pleased with the thought of impotently waiting for him at home.

He shook his head in the negative, "No, you should be seen around town. In a town this small people get suspicious when a pretty girl keeps to herself too much. We don't want to raise any suspicion while we're here. The Kannagi family might come snooping."

The ex-fire user mulled over his explanation for a few minutes, then nodded. "All right, that makes sense, I should buy groceries in town today anyway. We can't live off take-out forever."

Kazuma agreed, then a new thought occurred to him and headed down the hallway back into the main bedroom. Ayano followed a few paces behind, confused and curious... and a little bit wary. The moment she stepped into the doorway something small and black came flying at her face. She caught it awkwardly and fumbled with the square ebony box before finally getting a good grip on it. The ex-fire user stared dumbly at the object for a few seconds and then slowly opened it. She gasped at the contents inside.

"Ka-Kazuma! Wh-what is this...?" She yelped, turning large brown eyes on him.

The Contractor rolled his eyes as if she'd asked the silliest question in the world. "Now, I _know_ you can't be _that_ stupid..."

Ayano's jaw dropped as she stared at a matching set of rings: An engagement ring and a wedding band. The engagement ring was silver with a round cut diamond that was neither too big 'nor too small for her tastes. The stone was cradled inside the band which meant it wouldn't stick out obnoxiously where it might get easily caught on something while she was fighting. The wedding band was the same color with tiny round cut diamonds channel-set into it all the way around. It was a beautiful set, she realized, and it was just her style; a pretty, yet hardy-looking ring that looked like it could easily take some abuse (a given considering her line of work) if necessary. Ayano's jaw flapped wordlessly as she stared at the rings, too stunned to even think.

Fortunately, Kazuma was there to break the silence. "Don't get any ideas, Ayano, this is just a cover." At those words the girl turned her eyes back up to his and he noticed the buzz in energy she had been emitting earlier dropped substantially. _Is she disappointed?_ He wondered. Regardless, he had to continue, "We're staying in a small town and the locals will be talking about anybody new that moves in. We can't raise any suspicion so our cover is that we're newlyweds. That way nobody asks any questions about why you're living alone with me."

Ayano took a deep breath to calm her rattled nerves, then crossed her arms over her chest as she assumed a more authoritative pose; ready to begin the interrogation. "Why can't we be brother and sister or something? What's our story for why "we" moved out here? I assume we have fake names as well?"

Kazuma rolled his eyes in a way that suggested he figured she might ask such a stupid question, "Siblings don't normally go shopping together and they don't go out to dinner together the way we do." He quickly changed the subject before she realized they hadn't gone out to dinner yet in town. "You're right, though, we do have a cover story and fake names. We're newlyweds Akane and Katsu Tanaka. I'm an architect running my own business. I used to work in the Setagaya ward in Tokyo but recently moved my business to Osaka to focus on my family. Both of us grew up and met in Tokyo. You used to go to school at Tokyo University but you're taking a temporary break from it due to issues with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome."

"What about family? People always want to know about that..." Ayano spoke up.

Kazuma raised an eyebrow, "Very astute, princess. We moved here in part to get away from our families. I haven't gotten along well with my father since my mother died and your family thinks I'm not good enough for them so we don't keep in touch with either of them."

"I can't be wrong all the time..." She muttered, turning the small box between her fingers slowly, studying the rings soberly. That probably wouldn't be too far from how things might play out in the family, were they ever to get together-wait, she wasn't going to let that thought go any further.

Kazuma winked at her and produced a plain silver wedding band from his own pocket and slid it on his finger. Ayano's cheeks flared red hot as the thought of them married (fake or not) returned. She didn't miss his amused expression. He _wanted_ her to get worked up over the faux-marriage. When he looked at her expectantly she huffed and jammed the rings on her finger. The ex-fire user was old enough now to catch herself from falling into some of the social traps he loved to set for her. Ayano would not look at the rings, rather she crossed her arms over her chest and jammed her fingers into the crook of her elbow to hide them from her sight.

"All right, so I know the cover story. Now, what's next? How do I get my powers back?"

Kazuma pouted internally; he had really been expecting more of a fuss from her. Apparently, she knew more about how he operated that he had originally thought. The moment of pouting passed quickly, though, when his mind reminded him that there were plenty of other opportunities to irritate her. For the moment, those thoughts could wait.

"I have a couple ideas about how to get it back but I need to check some things out first. In the meantime I need you to go into town and buy us some groceries." He tossed a credit card and her new fake ID her way as he spoke.

Ayano caught the items clumsily before responding sarcastically, "What else should I do, _honey_? Shall I have dinner ready and on the table for you by eight?"

He smirked as he strode across the room towards the door she was standing in. Her eyes sparkled with barely-contained aggravation. She didn't appear willing to move from the doorway so he did the one thing that always got her moving. He kissed her cheek.

She jumped back with a start and raised a hand to the side of her face, allowing him the space to move past her and down the hall. As he headed for the front door he called out over his shoulder.

"Yes, dear. That would be wonderful. I shall see you soon, my love!" He waved and bowed dramatically before quickly stepping out the door, barely missing the shoe that was thrown at his face. Instead, it bounced harmlessly off the door.

0

Outside, Kazuma took to the sky immediately. His first stop was a small bookstore in Osaka. It was an old, hole-in-the-wall kind of place wedged between two tall buildings that looked like they might slide together at any moment and crush the little shop. He landed nearby and headed into the store. An elderly man squinted over the edge of a book at the Contractor behind a ramshackle counter.

"Can I help you, young man?"

He smirked and stepped closer, knowing the man had very poor vision."Hey, Pops, long time no see, eh?"

Pops set the book down and leaned forward across the creaking counter to get a better look at him. "By the gods! Kazuma! Is it you?"

The wind user grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, old man, it's me."

The man cackled and slapped his knee. "So it is, so it is! It's good to see you." His face sudden grew serious then, "Well, if you're here then you must be on the hunt for something, eh? Is it youma again?"

Kazuma shook his head. "Not quite. I'm looking for something... a spell book."

"Hmm..." Pops stroked his chin thoughtfully, "We've got plenty of those. What kind of spells did you have in mind?"

"I'm looking for a spell powerful enough to tear out an elemental Lord from its host." He replied.

Pops eyed the young man over his spectacles. "You're still seeking revenge on the Kannagi clan? You should give that up, you know. A spell like that will kill the host... I hear it's a terrible death."

In his most casual voice he said, "You know me. I've got unfinished business with the clan."

The old man frowned. "You're lying, Kazuma. I know it. I can hear it in your voice." His eyes widened as some sort of realization set in. "You've changed. But then, why do you need that terrible spell?"

The Contractor blinked, surprised at the man's reaction. Changed? He didn't feel any different, that was for sure. "All right, you got me. I need the spell so I can find out how it works... and reverse it."

Pops waved his hand and Kazuma could sense wind spirit activity. The old man had been an informant for him for years. Pops had quit working for the wind clan after he discovered the wind users were becoming corrupted. At the time he had warned Kazuma while he was still training with the clan. The Contractor had come to Pops for information ever since. After a few minutes Pops nodded his gray head. "Well it's not you who has been afflicted, so that must mean you're doing this for someone else, eh? No wonder... Someone's gentled your spirit."

"I can't talk about it, Pops... just tell me, do you have any texts with spells for that?"

"Nope, I don't." Pops replied. "But a friend of mine did mention an old book like that in one of his stores. I'll give him a call and have him send it to my shop. Come back in three days and I'll have it for you."

Kazuma sighed. He knew that Pop's group of book dealers were a secretive bunch. They would only deal with one another when it came to books of a sensitive nature. Even though he hated the idea of waiting, he knew he had little choice in the matter.

"All right, Pops, I'll be back in three days." The Contractor turned to leave.

The old man's voice stopped him. "I thought I'd never see the day you'd be so calm again... not after Cui Ling... This person must be something special."

Kazuma didn't respond. He simply stepped out the door and took off for the safe house.


	6. Strawberry Kisses

**Author's Note (Feb. 27, 2011): WHARRGARBLE! So, in case you don't know... recently there's been some sort of update to fanfiction's website and they disabled all the review alerts in the process... with no warning. So I JUST found out today that I wasn't getting any reviews because I had to re-enable the alerts. RRARG! With that in mind, I urge you all to _check your author alert settings_ to make sure YOURS haven't been turned off as well. **

**Ayano is old enough to drink at the time of this story BTW. **

**Also, Cui Ling is pronounced "swee ling" in Chinese phonetic English. I took two classes in Mandarin Chinese in college and I know that "C" looks strange if you were to try and pronounce it literally in English phonetics (which is more of a hard "K" most of the time). There isn't anything in English that helps you understand tonal differences in Chinese; which isn't necessary in English but is vital in Chinese so having certain letter combinations together helps people who sorta know what it's supposed to sound like get close to pronouncing it correctly. For an example of how Chinese phonetics differs, think about this: There's a city in Taiwan that I stayed in called Kaohsiung. It LOOKS like it should be pronounced "kow-seeung" or something but it's acually closer to "gow-shung." Also, "Thank you" is "Xie Xie" but is pronounced "she-eh she-eh"...etc... Does that make more sense now?**

0

Kazuma had expected a lot of things from Ayano when he returned from his bookstore excursion-none of those expectations had been on the mark. He had expected a chilly reception of cold food-if she had even made any for him at all-and Ayano curled up in a corner of the living room in pajamas watching TV, trying her best to ignore him. Instead, what he found was a huge spread of deliciously-smelling food over which Ayano was placing the last of her entrees on the table. She was fully dressed in a knee-length light blue ruffled skirt paired with an off-white, off-the-shoulder sweater. The girl dazzled him with a sweet smile when she noticed his presence in the room and she waved him over to sit.

"Welcome back, Kazuma. Looks like you made it in time for a hot dinner." She said.

Kazuma gaped. There was no way he couldn't. He had never expected to see Ayano smiling and friendly with him in that way. Sure, he'd observed her acting that way during some of his many opportunities to watch over her covertly, but never had she been so openly nice to him that way. He sat down at the table, still too stunned to do much but nod at her in thanks.

Inwardly Ayano was dancing for joy. For once in her life she had gotten the nigh-unflappable Kazuma Yagami speechless. The idea had dawned on her during the several hours she had left to her to stew. Her mother had once told her to kill people with kindness, and since she didn't have the Fire Lord's powers constantly pushing her to act, she had the clarity of thought to actually execute such an idea effortlessly.

The Contractor tentatively took a bite out of his food. He couldn't be sure that Ayano was actually a good cook. He'd often seen her gorge herself on food at local cafe's but never had he seen her cook. Kazuma was understandably wary, but his fears were ill-founded once he realized her food was delicious with the very first bite.

The rest of dinner was a silent affair. The contractor was so busy eating he made little in the way of conversation. Upon casual observation as he ate he noticed two things: the first was a small, triumphant grin upon Ayano's lips; the second was that she had left most of her food untouched on her own plate. He chose to ignore the latter issue for the moment when his phone hummed on vibrate from his jacket pocket. He nodded his silent apology towards her as he pushed away from his seat and took his call in the next room.

"What have you got?" He asked as soon as he was alone.

Meanwhile, Ayano took the opportunity to clean up the dinner table and ready it for dessert. She placed two small platters of shortcake on the table and spooned some strawberries onto each cake from a bowl she had in one hand. Kazuma returned to the dining area just in time to see his "wife" adding a dollop of whipped cream to each to complete the dessert. She ignored his presence while she finished her arrangements and then sat down to eat her food. The girl completely missed the brooding look that settled over his features for a significantly longer period of time than what the seasoned pro of poker faces normally kept. The expression finally passed and was replaced with an amused grin. He moved towards the table until he was close enough that Ayano glanced up at him.

"This looks pretty good, Ayano, but I think it's missing something..." The Contractor rubbed his chin contemplatively for a few moments before snapping his fingers. "Ah! I know!" With that, he moved to a small wine cooler set into the lower cabinetry of the kitchen, made his selection, grabbed a pair of elegantly shaped wine glasses, and returned to his seat across from her.

He had the cork popped and was already filling one glass by the time Ayano found the words to protest. "H-hey! It's just dessert... We don't need to drink!"

"Of course we do." The Contractor replied as he finished pouring the second glass and handing it to Ayano. "We haven't toasted to our first night in our new house together."

Ayano reacted right on cue. She took one look at him, then at her glass, grabbed it up, and downed it on the spot. She couldn't believe he'd said it so easily! He said it like they belonged together or something!

Kazuma hid his amusement and poured her another glass before starting in on his dessert. After a few bites of shortcake he took a sip of his wine. "This food is delicious, thank you Mrs. Yagami."

The girl flushed crimson then scowled at him. The expression he was giving her was expectant, like he was waiting for something. She could swear he was testing her. Well, then fine, she was good at tests.

"Why thank you, _dear_." She gave the last word a little emphasis. "And that's Mrs._ Tanaka_ to you, _honey_."

Kazuma's appreciative smile made her heart beat faster than she would have liked. "Very good. I was hoping you'd catch that." He swallowed the rest of his drink and refilled both their glasses.

"Well, I've learned from the best..." She tried to make it sound as off-hand a comment as possible and inflate his ego a little before adding with a sly grin. "My father taught me well, you see."

He pretended to pout at that. "... And here I thought you'd learned something from me..."

"Yeah, how to pick up chicks and act like an ass." The ex fire user shot back. Her head felt a little fuzzy. She'd never drank before, even though she was old enough to do so by now. Seeing Kazuma drink in front of her had been enough of a deterrent until then. However, this night she felt that abstaining would meet with more teasing than it was worth. Admittedly, it didn't feel nearly as off-kilter as she thought it would. Didn't people normally stumble around and slur their speech when they were drunk? Well, then perhaps she had a stronger tolerance for alcohol than she'd thought. Just then, an idea sprang to mind.

"Well, come on then, drink up." Ayano motioned to his glass. "Wouldn't you tell me you wouldn't want to let a perfectly good bottle go to waste?"

"Indeed, you're right, my dear." The Contractor agreed. He saw right through her ruse. Ayano wanted to get him drunk and stupid, he knew it. But, two could play at that game.

Several drinks and two shortcakes later the two had reached a stalemate when the bottle had been emptied of the last of its' contents. Kazuma was surprised to learn that Ayano was not a lightweight in the slightest. They had moved their little game to the living room and sat across from each other. They were both pleasantly, and heavily, buzzed; though neither would admit it.

"C'mon, Ayano. You can't tell me you aren't the least bit tipsy." Kazuma waved his empty wine glass at her. "I just don't buy it."

"Oh? And why do I have to be drunk? The Great and Powerful Kazuma Yagami saith so, is that why?" Ayano shot back hotly, clapping her glass down onto the coffee table between them.

"No, because I can _see_ as much on your face." The Contractor argued. To prove his point he set his glass down and stood up, then worked his way around the table until he was standing before her. He leaned in and clasped her face in his hands, bringing his head close to peer at her features. "I can see you're at the very least buzzed because your face is red."

As always, she was dumbstruck by his touch, but this time, fueled by the fuzziness in her head, she found it thoroughly impossible to direct her brain to do anything but stare at him. In the back of her mind she expected him to move away; teasing her like he always did. This time, though, he did not move. He simply stayed there, half bent over her, watching. Ayano couldn't begin to fathom what he was thinking in that moment but his proximity caused yet more blood to rush to her cheeks. If Kazuma knew or felt it he failed to let on. His eyes drifted lower to watch as his thumb, seemingly with a mind of its' own brushed across her lower lip. Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched his eyes close and his face slowly move forward. Still, a part of her mind nagged that it was all some kind of act that she had already partly fallen for. Yet her eyes slid shut anyway.

Two heartbeats later she felt their lips touch and it nearly made her heart stop. She could barely believe it so she cracked her eyes open slightly to see if he was in fact kissing. What she saw made her believe that she was dreaming (which her mind helpfully reminded her was entirely possible in her condition) because the half-lidded eyes that gazed back at her were blue. Deciding it was a dream and happy to let it continue she let her eyes slide shut again.

When Kazuma saw Ayano open her eyes he had thought for a moment that she had caught him calling upon the Wind Lord. He mentally breathed a sigh of relief seconds later when her dark pools slid closed again. He pressed to deepen the kiss until her lips parted, then allowed the energy he had been saving to pour from him and into her and prayed it worked. Pops had said over the phone that he wasn't sure if it would work or not. He had argued with himself mentally about the ramifications of doing so until he had finally settled on the only thought that mattered: if it helped Ayano stay alive long enough to find Enraiha then anything was worth the risk.

Kazuma continued the kiss and the connection for as long as he could (which was only a few seconds) before finally closing it. The moment he did so his head began to spin and his knees became weak and he broke the kiss to drop onto the couch next to her. Ayano immediately opened her eyes and stared at him questioningly.

He mumbled with a grin. "I guess I was a little bit drunker than I thought..."

A hundred thoughts inundated her brain at once but when she opened her mouth to attempt to voice any number of them her stomach intoned a growl instead. She blushed furiously as Kazuma gave her a pointed look and clambered up from her seat to beat a swift retreat to the kitchen. By the time she had rummaged around in the fridge and located her leftovers from that evening she had completely forgotten what thought she had intended to voice to him. The Contractor watched her eat, relieved to see that the energy transfer seemed to have worked in some capacity. Just before she finished he made to stand up, readying up an excuse to flee to the bedroom to sleep off the the drain on his energy. Unfortunately, the moment he stood his world spun and he was forced to lean forward and brace himself against the coffee table. Ayano saw this and clicked her tongue in disapproval once before moving towards him.

"You really _are_ wasted aren't you?" She stated as she looped a hand under one of his arms and half-dragged him towards the bedroom.

The excuse was one that easily seemed to fit the profile of how he was acting so he rolled with it. "Ha, yeah, I guess so."

As the stumbled towards the bedroom he noted that Ayano's strength seemed better as well; not completely back to her normal standards, but closer to it than she had ever been since things had gone so terribly wrong. As she helped him into bed he took the opportunity to capture her wrist and drag her into bed with him. Before she had much of a chance to protest he circled his arm around her shoulder, effectively barring her from escape, and closed his eyes. He tried to stay awake long enough to assure himself that she had fallen asleep but the total exhaustion he had been feeling easily dragged him over the edge into unconsciousness in a matter of seconds.


	7. Memory's Whispers

**OMFG! I can't believe I got this out. Thanks for all the reviews. You guys are awesome. **

**Special thanks to Winnow for reminding me to do something insanely important to the plot of this story. **

**Also, the offer still stands on my needing a co-author for my InuYasha fic "Bound to Tomorrow" so if you're interested please check out my profile or the latest chapter of BTT for more information. I really need help!**

0

Ayano was up for several hours after Kazuma fell asleep. Her mind buzzing with the memory of his kiss. She knew for certain that it hadn't been a dream yet still it seemed so unreal. For the second time she wondered if the wind user truly felt something deeper for her. Sure, she admitted to herself, he had been drunk when he had kissed her but she could not deny the look he gave her just before then. His eyes had stared into hers with such intensity and he'd hesitated long enough for her to know he'd purposely decided to kiss her. Could she dare hope?

No, she decided, even as her eyelids grew heavy. She wouldn't be convinced of anything remotely real without at least having it repeated. Instinct reminded her that they were tipsy, and Kazuma was intensely so, and she wasn't about to be hurt by some sort of misunderstanding. As if to confirm her decision she nodded to herself as she drifted off to sleep. Yes, she'd wait to feel hope one more time...

0

"What's your name?"

Ayano opened her eyes to a voice who sounded like a younger version of Ren. However, the sight that greeted her was an image of herself, only many years younger staring back at her. The younger Ayano canted her head to the side and smiled as she responded.

"Kannagi Ayano. What's yours?"

"Kannagi Kazuma." The voice responded. The elder Ayano started at this. She wasn't listening to Ren, she realized, she was listening to a younger Kazuma. She tried to look around to see where he was but she found her eyes wouldn't move. What the hell was this? A dream? A memory? She didn't recall ever meeting him before...

Young Ayano scooted closer, then grasped the end of her yukata sleeve in one tiny hand and reached over to scrub at his face. "There's dirt on your face..." She fussed absently before another question seemed to arise. "Why'd you let my cousins beat you up, anyway?"

The older Ayano's vision suddenly shifted to the side, as if she was ashamed to look at her directly in the face. "'Cuz..." Was Kazuma's only reply. Ayano was now certain the voice wasn't coming from anywhere near her, but coming straight from herself. Was she seeing this through Kazuma's eyes? It was the only answer that made any sense. _What a strange dream..._ She thought.

The little girl did not seem impressed by this answer. "'Cuz why?"

"Cuz... cuz... I don't wanna!" Kazuma replied. Ayano knew it was a lie. She knew that at that time Kazuma had no powers to speak of and his wind powers wouldn't manifest for several more years.

"That's a stupid reason!" The child insisted, disbelief clearly evident. "Daddy says everyone is suppose'ta fight. So why aren't ya out there fighting?"

"I can't use fire magic yet, okay?" The little boy snapped back, then added with a resigned pout. "You gonna beat me up now, too?"

Little Ayano blinked at him for a moment. "I'm not gonna fight you. What's the point? It's not fun if you can't fight back."

"So then... why are you here?" The older girl got the impression that he was tired and wanted to be left alone, but her younger self seemed oblivious to it.

The child gave him a look as if the answer should have been clear to him already. "I'm gonna protect you, silly! Daddy says that you're suppose'ta fight people who fight people who can't fight by themselfs." She made a face like she was confused at her own words. Clearly, it wasn't a verbatim quote from her father. Thankfully, young Kazuma seemed to have gotten the point.

"I dunno..." The child hedged. The elder Ayano got the distinct impression he didn't really want to be protected by a girl. Not that her younger self would have listened.

She didn't. "Well that's what I'm gonna do. I'll protect you from all those stupidheads."

Just then, the imaged faded to darkness and when she could see again fire was licking at her feet and hands. She winced and closed her eyes against the blazing heat. Then just as suddenly, the heat stopped and when she opened her eyes again it was morning and she was back in Kazuma's safe house.

0

Ayano groaned and rubbed her face. _What was that dream?_ She wondered. _It seemed so real... like it had really happened... but I don't remember ever meeting Kazuma before then...I know I did but, I really don't remember it._ She glanced to the man sleeping soundly beside her. He looked kind of peaceful lying there. She reached a hand out to brush away a strand of brown hair from his eyes then made a face as she realized she was still wearing the same clothes from last night. There was no way in _hell_ she was going to _think_ about _him_ or anything else until she'd had a shower and a change!

0

Kazuma awakened to an empty bed the next morning. He rolled over onto his back and stretched and popped his joints then turned to squint at the clock on a night stand next to the bed. Distantly he caught the scent of various breakfast foods lingering in the air. Relief washed over him. Ayano had returned to her routine of waking before he did. That was a good sign.

The happenings of the night before came rushing back to him in an instant. He groaned inwardly. That kiss was going to be a problem. Well, if he had to be honest with himself, a problem of sorts. It wasn't like he didn't want to kiss Ayano or anything. He certainly did. It was just that he had intended on waiting to pursue that kind of relationship until after he'd eliminated the gross imitation of his former lover: Lapis. If Lapis or Bernhardt knew that he had a new lover, then Ayano would become a much easier target for getting to his; especially at the moment. Hence, why he had not intended to make any such move before that time.

Then again, he reminded himself, it seemed that Bernhardt had targeted her anyway. He allowed himself a small, frustrated sigh. Bernhardt really had a thing for killing his girlfriends-well, granted Ayano wasn't his girlfriend yet; but... she could be. _So, what's stopping me now?_ He asked himself. The damage had already been done to Ayano, after all. Kazuma finally allowed himself to smile a little. Perhaps, he could take this opportunity and enjoy it after all? With that in mind he rolled out of bed and went to work getting dressed.

Kazuma discovered a the object of his affections sitting at the kitchen table with a half-eaten plate of various breakfast goods before her. Just to the side of her was an open magazine she had been reading while munching on a slice of bacon. She motioned to him without looking up from her magazine, the faintest hint of a blush staining her cheeks as she tried to address him as casually as possible.

"Everything's still on the stove. You'll have to make your own plate. You took so long dragging your butt out of bed I was worried your food would be cold..."

Unable to deny himself the opportunity, Kazuma sauntered over to the side of the table Ayano happened to be sitting at and leaned down; giving her a small peck on the cheek. "Aw, you shouldn't have... thanks, honey."

Ayano nearly turned purple as her face tried to both blush furiously and scowl angrily at the same time. She stuffed the rest of the slice of bacon into her mouth to calm herself and finally managed to chew out enough sense to think again. Her mind quickly drew back to the previous night and she wondered if the Contractor would give her a straight answer if she even asked about it. Or was that second kiss enough for her to make a guess at his answer? She wasn't sure, and Ayano was never patient with uncertainty. She put down her fork and drew in a deep breath.

"Hey Kazuma... about last night... h-how... how much do, uh... do you remember?"

Kazuma, who was by that time sitting across from her at the table with his breakfast, paused in his eating to look at her. He had to admit she had done an admirable job getting out that sentence. Just a few years ago she would have blathered nearly incomprehensibly like an idiot for several minutes before turning a brilliant shade of scarlet and running off before he could answer. Now, she remained where she sat, as red-faced as she had been when she was younger, but at least not running.

"All of it, why?" He replied innocently. He couldn't resist ruffling her feathers a little bit.

Ayano nearly threw her fork at him. He was going to make her say it! Stupid ass. "Did you... uh... When we, um... I-I mean to say... Wh-when..."

"What? I don't understand what you're saying." He had to dig a canine into the inside of his mouth to keep himself from grinning. Oh yeah, he'd make her spill it first.

Her temper quickly frayed and then snapped. "When we KISSED, damn it!" She hollered, slamming a fist onto the table.

"What about when we kissed?" He kept up his innocent tone, gods, it was hard trying not to smile!

She couldn't believe how easily he said it. He had to know exactly what she was asking and yet he still couldn't stop himself from teasing her to death with it! "You know what I'm asking, you ass! Did you mean it WHEN WE KISSED?" She shrieked. Had her powers been available the whole kitchen would have likely been consumed in flames.

"We? I'm pretty sure that was all me, there. It'd be more proper to ask if _I _meant it when _I_ kissed _you_."

Ayano gave a frustrated shout and pushed away from the table. She was done playing his game for the morning. Just before she could storm off towards the bedroom (with the intent of punching the pillow he slept on to vent some of her rage) a hand grabbed her by the elbow and swung her around so she was facing its' owner. Kazuma grinned up at her from his seat at the table.

"All right, all right, I'm done teasing you now. You really want to know what I meant when I kissed you?"

"Yes!" She huffed, losing a small portion of her fury in the process but tugging at his grip regardless. She quickly lost the rest of her steam completely when she saw his eyes grow serious.

Kazuma kept his gaze locked on hers. It was now or never. "Ayano, I-"

His cell phone rang.

The Contractor swore colorfully and released her arm so he could fish the phone out of his pocket. Any phone call coming to him now had to be about Ayano and he wasn't about to ignore a single one of them, even for something as important as this. Her life was far more crucial than words.

"What is it, Kirika?"

The ex fire user gave a disgruntled growl-more out of disappointment than anything else. Frustration quickly transformed into concern when she saw her companion's eye suddenly widen. He cursed again and quickly ended the call. It was always something! The Contractor looked up to say something to Ayano but the girl interrupted him.

"Something bad has happened, hasn't it?"

He sighed and stood up from the table. "Yeah, it has. I have to get going right away..."

Ayano gave an equally frustrated sigh. Her head bobbed in a small nod, then she looked at him pointedly. "You're not using this as an excuse, are you?"

"If I was I wouldn't tell you." A smirk touched the edges of his lips but it could not conceal the obvious concern he was radiating. Clearly, something had gone wrong.

He hesitated at the table for a moment but Ayano waved him off with a grumble. "Go on. Get your keys. I've got this."

Kazuma disappeared down the hall. When he returned with his wallet and keys Ayano was already there at the door with his puffy jacket. She made it a point to look away from his eyes somewhere off into the living room. Internally she wondered why the hell she was being so nice. He took his coat from her and was about to say something when she suddenly spoke up.

"You'd tell me if something was happening to Ren or my father, right?" Her dark eyes bored into his in that same unsettling way she had done when she had broken him from the berserk state so many years before.

He couldn't lie to her about that. "Yes, and no, nothing is wrong with them right now. This..." He hesitated for a moment, then decided to press on. "...is something related to one of my informants-my friend. I think he may be in trouble."

Ayano was stunned. Kazuma had never really talked about his past, let alone admitted to having a friend. Was he trying to open up to her more? The idea made her heart beat a little faster. "Is your friend okay?"

"I don't know. That's why I have to get going. Can I fill you in on it when I get back?" He asked it even as he moved towards the door.

Not wanting to lose the opportunity to get Kazuma to confide in her, she nodded and wisely decided not to press the issue. He was likely wasting valuable time if his friend needed help.

"Thank you, Ayano." Kazuma suddenly turned towards her and captured her arms, dragging her close. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead as he spoke, "I promise, I'll tell you about it when I get back."

Ayano's mouth hung open at the sweetness of the embrace and she would have said "Who are you and what have you done with Kazuma?" except that by the time she got her voice working again the Contractor had vanished out the front door.


	8. How it Came to Be

**Cudos for everyone who guessed right about this. Haha.**

**Okay, so I was going to get this chapter out in a few days... but then I beta-ed a 287 page story for someone and I couldn't stop seeing squiggly green lines under stuff (even though I don't have Word anymore). Now that that's done I can focus on the story again... however... I had to make a blanket for my older sister who is having a baby. So, that delayed me a little more. Sorry about that. Thanks for waiting.**

**Note: Some of this is taken from my knowledge of Taiwan. Taiwan's a wee bit different from mainland China though, so if I'm somewhat inaccurate, do tell. Technically, depending on the region he's in the people of this town could be speaking Mandarin or Cantonese (or something completely different entirely). I'm going to assume though that it's Mandarin. **

**Ni hao: Hello**

**Hao, Hao: Yes, yes **

**I don't know how detailed the manga gets about Cui Ling but the anime was pretty darn vague about just about everything except that Kazuma was in love with her. So, if my facts are out of sort with canon, please, please, please let me know. **

0

Kazuma could see the smoke from the rubble of a burned building even before he landed. He set down near the yellow caution tape that cordoned off nearly half a block of charred shops. The wind spirits complained of fire spirit activity in the area, especially around the central carcass of a building which must have been the source of the fire. A part of him distantly marveled at how alien the once-familiar bookstore appeared at the moment. Wind spirits reported a handful of spiritual additions-which could only mean people had died. He could not be sure if Pops had been among the dead, though. He only knew that more than one person had died in the blaze. Kirika could tell him more when she arrived.

As if on cue a silver sedan pulled up to the scene and the tall, leggy blonde in question stepped out in her unprofessionally high heels. He motioned to her to get her attention and waited somewhat impatiently for her to come near. As she approached he noticed her usually neatly-done hair had started to come undone and there were dark circles under her eyes that a day's worth of make-up barely covered up. Her business jacket was unbuttoned and her skirt had wrinkles in it that she belatedly tried to smooth down as she stepped close.

"You look like you've had a long night..." Kazuma opened, raising a dark brow at her.

Kirika released a sigh as she tried unsuccessfully to push back a rogue strand of hair that had fallen out of her bun hours ago and refused to go back. "Yeah, I've been up for twenty-seven hours now dealing with these damned store fires."

"Fires? As in plural?" He turned away from the devastation to give her his full attention, now.

She nodded. "Yes, there have been five others...eleven dead. All targets were stores specializing in magic books or magical artifacts. The damage indicates a fire user of some sort... a demon, mage, or even a Kannagi family member. See the burn mark there?" Kirika pointed towards half a brick wall with a long, sweeping black mark slashed along it before continuing. "The mark is too uniform to be made naturally and there are no drip marks to indicate an accellerant was used."

"I see..." The Contractor crossed his arms and closed his eyes momentarily to process the information.

Kirika continued, recognizing his body language as a sign for her to keep talking. "Originally, we thought this was an isolated demonic attack that had nothing to do with you, that is, until this place was hit. You mentioned you had an informant in the area?"

"Yeah, an old man, " He gestured towards the smoking carcass of the bookstore. "He owned that shop." Kazuma's poker face betrayed nothing of the closeness he felt towards the man.

"Well we won't know if he's in there for a few days. We've got a lot of bodies to process and it's hard as hell to ID burned ones. But, I'll call you as soon as I know for sure whether or not your informant is in there. Incidentally, care to elaborate on any theories about the cause of this string of attacks?" It was a shot in the dark, Kirika knew it, but she had to ask.

The Contractor smiled and shrugged, uncrossing his arms to shove them deep into the pockets of his jacket. "Sure, I've got lots of theories... But I won't tell you any of them until I know for sure."

He couldn't tell her about the strong likelihood of Bernhardt's involvement. Not yet, anyway. The moment he did would obligate Kirika to alert the Kannagi main house to the threat and that would inevitably force Jugo to call back Ayano and himself to defend the home front. That would in turn bring up the Kannagi power struggle he so desperately needed to avoid if he wanted to keep his complete attention focused on finding a cure for Ayano.

Dark eyes surveyed the wreckage one more time before turning back to Kirika. "I'll leave this to you. Call me when you've identified the bodies."

He gave the woman no time to respond before taking off to the sky again. She'd call him. She always did.

0

Moments later he alighted on the front entryway to their safe house. Without Pops ' intelligence there was little he could do but return home. No, it was more than that. He _wanted_ to return home. Everything was going to hell and he was frustrated by it to no end. At the very least he could offer himself some small solace in the fact that Ayano was near and safe.

As he entered the house he immediately noticed how quiet it was. Instantly, he was on full alert, scanning the large, open space as he cautiously moved forward towards the living area. A muffled sigh caused him to direct his attention towards the couch. Ayano lay curled up on it, sound asleep. The sight caused him to release a breath of relief he hadn't realized he had been holding. She was safe, still. Everything would be fine as long as it stayed that way.

Without thinking he moved over to the couch and crouched beside her still form. A book lay nearby on the coffee table. Absently, he reached out and brushed some stray locks that had fallen into her face. She stirred at the touch.

Ayano blinked owlishly up at him for a few moments, then mumbled."You're back... how's your friend?"

For some reason he couldn't explain he lurched forward suddenly, gathering the startled girl up into his arms. He buried his face into the corner of her neck and shoulder. Ayano sat in stunned silence. She had seen him act like so once before... then that meant the news that weighed on him was very bad indeed. Slowly, she allowed the tension in her shoulders to relax, knowing full well that there was no reason to rush him when he was acting the way he did at that moment. Ayano awkwardly directed the free arm she was not currently lying on to slide around his back in a loose hug. They stayed that way in silence for several minutes. Gradually, she felt the tension leave his back muscles until he was finally relaxed enough to pull away.

Now that she was released she took a moment to gather herself up into a sitting position, ready to hear him out. "So, what happened?" She prodded gently.

Kazuma sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The place my friend-Pops is his name-lived and worked... it's gone. Burned down."

"Did they...?" Ayano did not want to finish her sentence, fortunately, Kazuma did for her.

"No. They didn't find his body. Not that I know of, anyway. There's a lot of bodies to identify. It'll take a while before I know for sure if he's... dead." The contractor rolled back onto the balls of his feet, his eyes drawn downward to inspect his hands, absently.

Then Ayano asked something he had not expected. "Did he... was he hurt because of me?"

Kazuma looked up into her face, but her eyes would not meet his. "No, but the scene reeks of Bernhardt. If I had to guess I'd say he was trying to hurt me, not you. You don't even know Pops."

"Tell me about him." She was looking directly at him this time.

The Contractor pushed up from his squat position and shuffled over to the couch. He threw himself down onto it with a tired grunt and leaned back, training his eyes on the ceiling as he thought back.

"It's a long story... but here it goes..."

0

Kazuma wasn't sure what had compelled him to move so far away. He wandered in to the small, Chinese town unaware of even its name. Yet, his feet compelled him forward, through the crowded morning market streets filled with rolled carts and shop vendors shouting their wares. The scent of food was everywhere. Some of it smelled delicious, others smelled downright awful. Through the choked streets he wandered until he entered a small noodle shop.

"Ni hao, welcome!" A sing-song voice chirped above all the noise. It belonged to a pretty, petite girl with long brown hair waved to him a few feet away. An apron was tied about her waist and she cradled a small notebook and pen in her hands.

"Ah... uh... hello." Kazuma rubbed the back of his neck, glancing about nervously.

"Hao, hao, Go ahead and take a seat wherever you want. I'm a little busy, but I'll be there to take your order as soon as I can."

Dumbly, the boy took a seat at a nearby table. He couldn't help but watch the girl flitting about amongst the packed tables full of people. She seemed almost overwhelmed by it all, he could tell, yet she kept up her flawless smile at all times. In the background, the front door to the restaurant chimed and he turned his eyes towards the sound. An elderly man hobbled in and and plunked down at a table at the far end of the room. For some reason, he felt compelled to take note of this man.

He watched the old man for several minutes; he seemed keenly interested in the girl and he'd brought his own lunch. Obviously he wasn't there to eat at the restaurant. So, what made her so special? Suddenly, Kazuma's thoughts were interrupted by the girl in question.

"Ready to order? Or are you here for work? You look like a good, strong man." She cooed.

He blinked at her as he was roused from his contemplation. "Ah... uh... I'm here for work." Kazuma kicked himself internally. What the hell had compelled him to say that? It wasn't like he needed any money. He could purchase whatever he wanted on the credit card his mother gave him. Still, though, he didn't really have anything better to do. So he decided to roll with it; at least for the moment.

"Oh! That's great news!" She gushed excitedly, then pulled a notepad from one of her apron pockets. "Here, take this." She handed him the notebook. "Go take that table's orders."

Kazuma took the pad and scratched the back of his head. "Sure, but, I don't even know your name."

The girl had nearly left before he could say it; but she heard him. She paused and twisted slightly to look back at him with a cheerful smile. "My name's Cui Ling."

0

Ayano leaned back in her seat. She hadn't quite been prepared to hear about his ex-girlfriend, though she understood why. Hearing him note how cheerful she had been upon meeting him made her wonder if he liked that in a girl. She certainly didn't act like that around him very often; though she failed to remember that he tended to bring out the worst in her on purpose.

"Pop was watching Cui Ling? Did he say why?"

"Yeah" He replied. "But it wasn't anything I understood at the time..."

0

It had been a few weeks since Kazuma had started working at the restaurant. The Kannagi boy had become fed up with the geezer's obvious snooping. So naturally, he had confronted him.

"Come on, old man. Out with it. Why are you watching Cui Ling?" Kazuma tapped his foot impatiently on the sidewalk. The two men had moved their discussion to a nearby alley out of deference to Cui Ling's restaurant traffic.

The old man huffed and pretended to wipe a non-existent speck of dirt off his shirt collar. "If you're going to call me something then call me Pops-not old man. You hear me? I'll tell you nothing until you do."

The young Kannagi rolled his eyes but wisely decided to play along. "Fine then, Pops. Please, explain to me why you've been hanging around the restaurant and watching Cui Ling."

"There's a significant amount of energy in the air here, son." He gestured with his hand, waving it in a circular fashion for a moment. "If you could feel it then you'd know something big was about to happen. I'm here to find out what that happening will become."

Kazuma hadn't heard that term since last he'd spoken with his father-and that had been long before the man had disowned him. Some part of him wanted to take what the man said seriously; the part of him that had been drawn to the restaurant. The rational side of him argued that the old man was merely lonely and wanted to stare down a pretty girl. He wasn't sure which side to listen to yet.

"That doesn't explain why you're watching Cui Ling." He argued.

"Bah! Ignore what your head says and listen to your heart. Energy moves about her-and you-differently. There's something special there. I know it." Pops paused when he saw several emotions flit over the boy's face.

What he said wasn't what Pops had been expecting. "There's nothing special about me." At the time, Kazuma hadn't realized he'd said it in such a disappointed tone. This, piqued Pop's interest.

"You say that like it's been set in stone for you, boy. Why is that? What's your family name?"

Kazuma was taken aback at this. Those kinds of questions were only asked when magic users were involved. Pops had to be one of them. Knowing how well-connected those users tended to be he knew it was pointless to keep it a secret. He'd do some digging, make a few calls, and then he'd know.

"I _was_ a Kannagi." He replied, his tone sullen.

Pop blinked and scratched his head "Was? I thought Jugo had a better mind than to be involved in any of that family disownment nonsense."

"...It wasn't his decision to make." Kazuma snapped back. "It was my father, Genma, who decided I was no longer family."

"Hmph! I see that stubborn old sod hasn't learned a damned thing since I knew him." The old man grumbled aloud, mostly to himself, though Kazuma heard it easily enough.

He found himself liking the geezer a little more than he had a moment ago.

"You knew my father?"

"Of course I did. I was his top informant. Hell, I'm the smartest damned Fujutshushi there is." Pops scoffed and waved his hands dismissively.

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. The smartest wind user did not exactly make him the strongest wind user. Genma never worked with anyone who was not a bastion of strength, so what did a little old man have to offer him, anyway?

As if he could read his mind, Pops answered. "Strength is worthless without a good mind behind it, kid. I might not have been the strongest... but I know things. My knowledge makes me powerful. Damned kids these days don't understand that strength means nothing in the face of quality strategy..."

"What do you mean?" Kazuma asked, curious.

The old man grinned as if he'd been waiting for such a discussion all day long. "Oh, lots of things... with the right strategy even a non magic user like yourself could take on a fellow Kannagi."

The boy was in his face in a flash. His dark eyes glittered with barely concealed excitement. "Teach me.

0


	9. What Came Next

**oOo**

**People of FanFiction, I have heard your pleas!**

**Yeah, I've been busy. Yeah, I've got plenty of legitimate excuses. Yeah, I'm sorry for the delay.**

**Your reviews are what resuscitated this fic! **

**Now, I can't promise that I'll write regularly. I am extremely busy. **

**I have a full time job, I'm planning my wedding, I have a new house, blah blah blah. You know the drill. Real life sucks and keeps me busy. I can't help that but I promise you, my loyal readers, that I will TRY to keep up with this. **

**Sorry about the wait; I hope this holds you over for a bit. **

**oOo**

"So, Pops taught you everything you know?" Ayano sat back against the couch. Her long tresses caught between her back and the cushion and she raised a hand to claw her hair over one shoulder. The simple movement caused them both to glance at her ebony hair. A silent reminder of what she had lost.

Kazuma released a soft sigh at her contemplative stare. It wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking. It wasn't his style to drop empty words and doing so would only cause her concern. With that errant thought in mind he continued his story. It wasn't happy, but at least it would be distracting.

"I can't tell you what or how he taught me. Many of them are Fujutsushi secrets... and while I don't give a damn about what the wind users want to keep quiet, Pops asked specifically for me to keep these secrets to myself so..."

"You can't tell me anything about your training, right? Suffice to say you learned something. Correct?" Ayano responded. She was quiet for a moment, then sat back up, her dark eyes focused back on him in what he recognized as her complete attention.

"Wait..." She leaned forwards and rested her long limbs on her knees. "How did you train without any powers?"

The Contractor tilted his chin back and directed his gaze to the ceiling."Well, I could use some magic, but it was all very weak; low level stuff any other family member learns while still a kid."

"Is that where you learned wind magic?"

"What little I could." He replied quietly. Ayano noted the way the corners of his eyes tightened. The faintest hint of irritation. "Pops sensed power in me. He never told me until... later, but he thought it was hidden behind some sort of... restraint. He tried to train me to try to channel that power. Perhaps break whatever barrier was holding it back? Back then, it was just a theory. He thought that the reason for the power flux around Cui Ling had something to do with me. Possibly even me and her together. He wasn't sure. It was all just theories..."

oOo

Kazuma had grown in the several months since his training. He was stronger, faster, and more skilled than ever with his fists... for a normal human, at least. He was still frustrated by his lack of discernable power in the magic sessions Pops drilled into his mind. His anger might have festered in his mind if not for the patient Cui Ling. No matter how tough the day, no matter how disappointing the magic lesson, she was there to greet him with a smile when he lumbered up the dingy flight of stairs to the studio apartment above her little restaurant. In no time, their relationship blossomed into true romance. In the mean time, he filled his days with part time work with Cui Ling, and odd jobs all over town.

Then the night came when he returned home to find Cui Ling huddled over in a chair in the sequestered space intended for a living room. Her smile was gone and her face was pale. Kazuma rushed over to her.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

The girl raised her head slowly towards him. Emerald eyes flashed wide with fear. "K-Kazuma?" She burbled.

He reached an arm around her shoulders and drew her into a bear hug. "Yeah, it's me, dear. I'm here. Tell me, what's wrong?"

"I... Alma..." Her eyes stared right through him, clouded with some memory that he couldn't see or imagine.

Kazuma gave her shoulders a gentle shake. "What is it? Come on Cui Ling, tell me!"

The clouds in her eyes cleared suddenly, roused by his movements. She blinked slowly, then focused her gaze on him. "Kazuma, oh... Oh dear. I'm sorry. I had a bit of a scare." She slid her arms around his waist and gave him a squeeze back. "I'm sorry, dear. Really, I'm fine now. It was silly."

He leaned back from her to get a better look at her face. "You don't look fine; and besides, I don't care if it sounds silly, just tell me."

The brunette gave a deep sigh and leaned away from him a smidge. "Oh, all right... I... I... stared at a funeral."

He was quiet for a moment. In Chinese culture staring at a funeral brought on bad luck and he knew full well his girlfriend was particularly superstitious. He tried not to laugh, knowing it would only irritate her. "Ah. Well, that would be pretty scary, I suppose."

"It was! Oh, Kazuma, hold me!" She threw herself at him then, prompting him to release a peal of the laughter he had tried to contain.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from vengeful spirits, dear."

oOo

Ayano's features were shuttered as he pulled back from the memory. He knew it bothered her to hear about his old flame yet, he found that once he had started speaking he could not stop.

"You know, if I had used some of that investigative knowledge Pops had taught me I would have realized she was lying." He mused aloud.

Ayano blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

He regarded her for a second, then nodded to himself as he made a decision. "I'll tell you this since it's not exactly a Fujutsushi secret: when a person lies they tend to look away from the person they're talking to. They tend to look down and to the right... Cui Ling did that when I asked her what was bothering her." He pressed his lips together in a frown. "If I'd thought about it... if I had used my head like Pops had taught me... I might have-"

"You might have what?" Ayano interjected irritably. "Found out she was in trouble? What could you have done if you'd known? You hadn't received your powers then. You might have been able to find Bernhardt but you would have ended up dead. It..." She paused for a moment, casting a glance to her fingertips curled around a nearby throw pillow. She hated to say what was on her mind but she wasn't one to internalize. "...It wouldn't have saved Cui Ling."

Kazuma rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He'd never thought of it that way before but... he should have. She was right, for once, and he knew it. He might have tried to do something to save Cui Ling but even then, he had not gained his powers until long after she was dead. Granted, he could have asked Pops for help, but even he knew that the Fujutsushi wouldn't have been able to call for aid in time. In addition, Pop's version of wind magic was far more defensive than offensive and specialized even further towards information gathering more than any sort of personal safety.

"That night was when she asked me to protect her." He let out a derisive snort. "Me? Protect her? What a joke. If I'd known what would happen the next day... I-I might have at least told her the truth... that I couldn't save her."

Ayano reached over and placed a cool hand over his. "You couldn't have known, Kazuma."

When his eyes turned down to hers, finally pulled away from the ceiling by her touch, they were full of incredible pain a guilt. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and he rolled his hand over, palm up towards hers. His fingers slowly, hesitantly curled around her hand in a loose hold. It seemed to be just the thing he needed to continue on with his story.

"You know what happened next. The following night she disappeared. I used everything I knew to track her down to this shabby building on the edge of town. An old, closed down warehouse that used to store canned goods. I don't know what I thought I was going to do when I got in there. I had no clue what I was getting in to..."

oOo

Kazuma expertly picked the lock on a side door, once used for employees out for a smoke break. He slipped through soundlessly into the dingy interior of a small office. As he peered through the plexiglass window overlooking the rest of the warehouse he could see in the distance a single shadowy figure hunched over a faint green glowing circle. Another figure: slight, female, hovered in the glow.

And just like that, all his sensibilities vanished. He knew exactly who the figure was. Kazuma burst through the office door and barreled down the warehouse towards the two. When he was ten feet away he was caught roughly by the collar by strong hands and slammed into the concrete floor. The hand that had been clutching a water balloon released its hold and hurtled towards the standing figure's head.

Bernhardt never saw it coming. The balloon burst over the left side of his face, drenching him in an unknown liquid. Seconds later his skin was sizzling as the chemicals in the balloon took effect. Kazuma had taken the balloon bomb from Pops, only aware that the old man had used it as a means to escape in times of trouble. What he had thought would be some sort of gas bomb turned out, instead, to be a very powerful acid. Bernhardt shrieked and clawed at his face. The arms that held Kazuma refused to budge but another set, attached to a pale, skinny woman appeared and began administering to Bernhardt. The young man struggled in vain to wriggle out of the death grip on his arms and only received a vicious kicking for his efforts.

Cui Ling floated only feet away from him. Her eyes pinned to his. Her face showed no hint of emotion and from what he knew of suspension spells from Pops he knew that she couldn't move enough for that. But her eyes... there was real fear in her eyes, fear that was fading away as her blood and life energy were drawn out of her. Throwing acid at Bernhardt hadn't stopped the spell from its terrible objective.

"You're killing her!" He shouted desperately. For that the person, no, the demon he sensed holding him gave a vicious twist to one of his arms and he felt the shoulder pop out of the joint. He groaned in agony and pressed his forehead into the cold cement.

By that time Bernhardt was sufficiently recovered enough to respond. "That's exactly the point." He spat. "She is an open vessel. A being whose energy can be easily harvested with the proper spell. Her destiny is to be used."

His face had stopped bleeding but the angry raw welts left behind told Kazuma with some satisfaction that there would be permanent scaring, despite the healing ministrations and spells of the skinny woman. Whatever Pops had had in that balloon had done its job.

Bernhardt raised a hand to touch his cheek but let his palm hover over the skin rather than touch it outright. "Just for that I'll let you watch your girlfriend die. You'll live to see the fruits of your foolishness."

And so... he watched, and begged and pleaded for it to stop; for her survival. Every agonizing second of it. He watched the love of his life fade away without a word, and with only enough energy to shed impotent tears. He wondered who they were for. Were they for herself and her life un-lived or for him and the life he would live without her? He would never know.

He knew the exact moment when her soul had moved beyond her broken shell. He had felt the spirits pulse with a new one among them. The green glow was gone and the warehouse was reduced to near total darkness. Her dead eyes continued to stare at him long after she was gone, her corpse fell to the ground as if discarded by a negligent child. It would haunt his dreams for years afterward.

When it was over Bernhardt took a step back, raised his arms high and chanted a spell. When he was pulsing with stolen energy he turned his arms down towards the ground and released the energy downwards. A bright white glow flashed from his palms down into the earth where it vanished with a rush.

In the silence that followed Bernhardt spoke."Now, you'll live with the second part of your foolishness."

With that the demon followed up with one more swift kick to Kazuma's middle and released him. He was so terrifically winded from the blow he could do no more than watch and cringe on the ground as Bernhardt, the skinny woman, and the demon walked casually out through the warehouse office and out into the night.

Moments later the ground began to rumble and shake. Kazuma recovered just enough to painfully drag himself to Cui Ling's cooling corpse. He threw his one good arm around her as the world began to shake violently. He buried his face in her side to protect more of her. He heard the sounds of heavy metal object clanging and crashing into each other. The last thing he heard was the sound of something giving way just above his head then the world went dark.


	10. Shaken Up

**Yep. There you go. Another chapter. I'm kind of on a chapter writing frenzy... so... there's no telling when the mood will strike me or which story is going to get all the attention. **

o0o

He woke to pain and muffled screams. Everything was dark and his eyes wouldn't focus. He could feel the cold stiffness of Cui Ling's body beneath him and it galvanized him into action. First, he shifted his heels and legs to gauge if anything had been broken when what he could only guess was the ceiling had collapsed on him. He was relieved to find that, not only were his legs uninjured but that they weren't pinned at all. He could move them relatively freely. Then, he moved the one working arm he had, feeling around in the dark for rubble above him. He found a metal lighting fixture a few inches from his left, but could not feel any sort of resistance from above.

Hesitantly, he slid his good arm underneath his chest and pushed. His injured shoulder protested immediately and he collapsed back down onto Cui Ling. He mumbled an apology at her lifeless body for the unintended abuse. When the rolling waves of pain had subsided enough to clear his mind he rolled over on to his back.

"I... I gotta get this shoulder back in..." He muttered to himself. Pops had taught him how to throw his arm just right to get it back in place in case of such an event... such as he was trained in survival... but Kazuma found that employing such skills with a throbbing, inflamed shoulder was a different can of worms entirely. It took him an hour of shouting, groaning, swearing, and tossing about before he got the offending arm back into place. All he would say to Ayano about it was, "It was a hell of a thing."

Once his arm was back in place he began searching for a way to get out. By some miracle the only thing that had managed to strike Kazuma or Cui Ling's body was the errant light fixture that had knocked him out cold. Not a bit of rock or rubble could be found within a five foot radius around her body...

oOo

"You know, that was probably Cui Ling." Ayano interrupted.

He raised an eyebrow at her, mildly irritated at the interruption to his flow of thoughts. "What?"

"I've heard about it before. Powerful, spiritual people have protected their loved ones from disaster just after death." She replied.

"She couldn't have protected me. I got hit with that light. Remember? I just told you that." He grumbled, absently touching the back of his head where phantom pain generated whenever he thought about the injury.

"Pfft! Are you that stupid, Kazuma?" She sputtered.

His ire grew. "The hell do you mean?"

"Kazuma, she probably let that lamp hit you so your idiot self would be knocked out and wouldn't try something stupid... like dragging her body to an unsafe area to wait out the quake." She grinned at him when he gawped at her.

"Hadn't thought about that before, had you?" Her smile turned feline with pleasure.

Once again, Ayano had struck him speechless. He replayed the memory in his head again and again but the conclusion was always the same...

oOo

He had fallen unconscious in just the right place at just the right time. Getting out, even with his extensive injuries to both his arm and his ribs, was a fairly easy, albeit painful experience. The rubble overhead was fairly light and with a few pushes to various bits of metal he had managed to open up a hole to let in daylight.

Disaster. It was everywhere he looked. Buildings crumbled around him, half-collapsed. Rubble littered the streets and men, women, and children were screaming everywhere. For several minutes the only thing Kazuma could think about was that he was fairly certain he had been transported to some alien land. His mind refused to believe that such chaos and horror could have once been his home. Yet, soon the errant, confused thoughts reluctantly organized themselves and images that seemed so foreign gained terrifying familiarity. In the rubble near his feet was the barely-recognizable side of a push cart from a local food vendor he always managed to grab lunch from on his way to work his various go-fer jobs. Down a little bit further was the half-buried sign of one of his favorite noodle shops. It was the only one that made ramen even remotely close to what it tasted like in Japan. Further on, the bent and twisted remains of a jungle gym from what remained of the local park. Gradually, it dawned on him that he was, in fact, still home... but home was now a thing of nightmares.

Kazuma had little time to reflect on the revelation, though, as the sound of his name drew his attention.

Soon his eyes found the source of the noise. Pops was awkwardly shambling his way towards him with obvious difficulty amongst all the rubble. "Kazuma, lad! Thank the gods you're okay!" He shouted as he approached.

His eyes followed Pops as he closed in but the young man remained rooted to the spot. The screaming had gone quiet in his mind, though the world around him continued to pulse with suffering. He found that he was simply too stunned to feel it any more. Then, gradually, the world came back to him, along with it followed Pops' voice.

"Kazuma! Kazuma! Wake up, son!"

The world rocked a bit and he realized it came from Pops, who shook him roughly. He finally raised his hands and placed them gently on Pops forearms. "S-stop... I'm... I'm here." He mumbled.

Pops halted his shaking to give him a good once-over. What he found did not seem to help convince him that Kazuma was fine. "The hell you are." He grunted as he applied a weak healing spell to his shoulder. It did little but take the edge off, but it was enough to clear some of the fog from his head. "What-"

"-Cui Ling's dead." Kazuma interrupted. "She...She was killed." The words tumbled from his lips, unbidden, forced out by his own mind's necessity to unburden itself. "This.. This..." He babbled as he swept his arm around in a half-circle. "He did this. The man that killed Cui Ling. He took something from her... her life force... something... I don't know. But, he took it, pushed it into the ground... and... it caused this."

Pop swore softly, his gnarled hand rubbed his chin as he thought and swore. He had ideas about what kind of man could have done such an awful thing but there were many, many bad men in the world. He clapped his hands around the boy's shoulders until he was forced to look him in the eye.

"Tell me everything you know. Everything."

Spilling his guts to Pops gave Kazuma a growing sense of purpose. The more he recalled, the closer Pops could get to finding the man that killed his love. And when he did...

"I'll hunt the bastard down."

Pops glanced up at him. The older man had chosen a seat for himself on a mostly flat slab of broken concrete that had once been a support beam in what was left of a thrift store. "That, son, will take some time."

"Time? The hell kind of time do you need?" Kazuma snarled. "He was just here he has to be close. If we hurry, we'll definitely catch that bastard!"

"Absolutely not!" Pops bellowed. "Have you forgotten what happened when you burst on him not hours ago? You were beaten nearly to death! No! We must be prepared before we act. You know better than that and you know it won't bring her back."

"Goddamn it!" Kazuma cursed and kicked at a piece of broken cement. It rolled awkwardly a few inches before coming to a halt against the battered shaft of a fallen lamp post. He whirled on the older man, fists clenched.

"Pops, I've got to do something I can't just-"

"Give it back!" A little girl shrieked, cutting off any further conversation. Moments later a teenaged boy with a scarf wrapped around his face and a hoody thrown up over his head zipped past the two arguing men. A heartbeat after that the source of the voice, a skinny girl, covered in dirt and blood streaked past, arms extended towards the boy as if she might reach out a little further and gain the necessary distance she needed to catch him.

"Stop him!" She sobbed raggedly. The child, no older than twelve, by what Kazuma could see, was quickly running out of steam; far outclassed by the taller, and more fit, teenager. "Mommy's necklace! It's mine! It's all I have left!"

Kazuma needed no further encouragement. Despite the raging pain in his shoulder he took off after the young punk. It could not have been more than a few hours, yet people had already come to loot homes in the devastation. It disgusted him; enraged him... and he would put him down.

In a few quick strides Kazuma had caught up to him the physical training he had begun with Pops had paid off and his rage was such he could barely feel a twinge as he reached forward with his good arm, grabbed the boy by his hood and pulled. Clotheslined, the kid choked on the collar of his hoody in his forward momentum and went down hard. Kazuma dropped with him and slammed his knee down on his chest. The air whooshed out of the thief in a rush. Too stunned to move, Kazuma seized the opportunity to wrest one of the boy's hands behind his back, twisting his wrist back into an immobilization hold. He pressed on the wrist until the boy gave a pained moan. By that time, the little girl had caught up to the action.

"He took...mother's necklace... took it from... her neck!" She wheezed, as she collapsed to her knees in the dirt, exhausted.

Kazuma pressed against the kid's upturned wrist again. Without waiting for a response he used his free hand to search his pockets. He quickly uncovered a silver necklace and matching locket, along with a handful of wedding bands and, disturbingly, some gold teeth caked in dried blood.

"Sick bastard." He hissed, giving the hand a vicious twist. The sickening pop of a joint dislocating was audible for the briefest of seconds before the thief began screaming. The little girl crawled forward, tears revealed the true color of her skin beneath the dirt and blood; the deep tan of a child who spent many warm days outdoors. Her fingers upturned towards Kazuma, a silent plea for the necklace on her lips.

As he dropped the object into her waiting palm she burbled. "He... he... took it. From her neck. She was dead and he took it!" The horrific memory sent fresh tears tumbling from her eyes.

Kazuma pressed on the distorted hand. "Is this true? Are you looting the dead?"

The teen shrilled an apology between cries of pain. He tried to thrash at first, but the vice-like grip on his hand caused unbearable pain every time he moved. The boy's wails quickly devolved into shuddering whimpers for mercy.

Pops cleared his throat. "That's enough, Kazuma."

Kazuma snapped his dark eyes to the old man. "He deserves to suffer!" He snarled back. The teen mumbled incoherently in response.

"No, he's had enough, boy. Let him go." Pops interjected. He turned his gray eyes to the girl. "Are you sufficiently satisfied with his punishment?"

She nodded her head emphatically as she clutched the necklace to her chest. Her eyes darted to Kazuma fearfully. She was happy for the help, but the raging man terrified her, as well.

"I... I... he... don't kill him, sir."

Kazuma looked stunned. He released the boy who collapsed at his feet, blubbering. He'd never intended to kill but he'd ended up coming terrifyingly close to it. He took a deep, shuddering breath and turned back on the thief.

"Get out of here. Don't come back."

The boy refused to budge, too scared to move. He continued to whimper and moan. A swift kick in the rear from pops got the kid up and scrambling. The old man turned to the girl.

"Will you be all right now, miss?"

Tears welled in the girl's eyes and she shook her head. "No, no sir." Her voice quavered. "They're all _gone_... they're... _why_? Why them? Wh-Why not me?"

Pops sighed and stepped over to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. The little girl turned into his side and began to sob. Kazuma watched it all with ever-growing rage. His fists balled until all the blood left his knuckles, his nails bit into his palms and the bones in his hands popped faintly.

"Hey kid." He called to her. "I'm going to get the guy that did this. I promise you. I will."

"Someone caused this?" She gasped between gulps of breath from her crying. Pops nodded. Magic wasn't unknown, especially in Asia. Massively damaging spells were a great rarity; almost an impossibility. The little girl drew herself up a little straighter, swiped her eyes with the back of a hand, and turned her dark eyes on Kazuma.

"You'll find the person who did this?

He nodded.

Her eyes narrowed. "Do a hundred times worse to him what you did to that thief. Promise me."

Without hesitation he answered back "I promise."

o0o


	11. Buried Reality

**I'd like to point out that I can't just stick romantic stuff wherever in the story. It wouldn't make sense to the plot if I filled it with Ayano x Kazuma fluff. It especially doesn't make sense to insert Ayano romance stuff in a part of the story talking about Kazuma's beginnings... where Ayano **_**isn't**_** heavily involved. Don't worry guys, I'll get to that stuff. I promise, but it has to fit where it's sensible to place.**

**Remember, I'm trying to fill in the blanks on a lot of stuff that we don't know since the original writer of the light novels has passed away. **

**Um. I might have made a boo boo. In the manga (which I didn't have access to other than very vague wikipedia articles for the longest time) Bernhardt was out to get Kazuma because he killed his former master. His master is the one who killed Cui Ling. Does anyone remember if it was Bernhardt or his master that killed Cui Ling in the anime? **

o0o

Ayano sat back to stare at him. Horror etched her features. The paleness of her cheeks was intensified by waves of ebony framing her face. She'd known Bernhardt was a bad man. She'd seen the suffering he'd inflicted on Kazuma first-hand. Yet, it was another thing entirely to hear of an entire city laid to waste for seemingly nothing. The fingers that had been stroking the throw pillow in her lap suddenly curled into a fist.

"He's SUCH a bastard!"

Kazuma blinked at her, surprised by the sudden outburst. He had been so lost in the story he'd continued to pour out to her that he had failed to notice the surge in her temper.

"You know, even when I think he's the lowest, dirtiest filth on the earth I hear something about him and I hate him even more...ugh!"

For the briefest of moments he could have sworn he saw her eyes flicker red. Did he imagine her hair turn the faintest shade of pink? He wasn't sure, but it felt more right than what he'd felt from her or her aura in a while. He grinned when he saw her punch the pillow, still fuming about Bernhardt, cursing his name to the heavens and back.

Kazuma barked out a laugh that sprung unbidden to his lips. "Well, yeah. He is a bastard. Or, have you taken so many blows to the head in our battles that you've forgotten?"

Kazuma earned a scowl from the ex-fire-user for that. "You know what I mean, damn it! Besides, I didn't know_ all_ that."

An eyebrow arched high on his head. "All what? This is the first time I've told you anything about my life before I came here..."

Ayano shook her ebony tresses. "Kirika told me a little when you went crazy that first time you saw Lapis." She raised both hands up. "Ah! But she really didn't tell me much. I only learned a little bit about Cui Ling." She wrinkled her nose. "And not much of that either, come to think of it."

"Kirika, huh?" Kazuma mused as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You know, I met her not long after that earthquake incident?"

Ayano shook her head 'no.'

He grinned. "Yeah. Pop's used her as an informant and merc while we were in Russia tracking Bernhardt... I'd tell you all about it but..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't remember much of it. My powers manifested while we were there."

His mahogany eyes stared vacant before her, as if he could will the memories to come forth. "I was very angry. The wind raged... So loud... so many voices... Pops and Kirika did their best to ground me but... I had so much hate... hurt so many people..."

She could tell by the way his eyes clouded over that he was losing himself to those veiled memories. Something in her urged her that she might lose him. As if he could become possessed by dwelling on the past. She needed to draw him back to her. Ayano's hand slid forward to find his. "It's all right, Kazuma. Everyone loses control. You've had half the time most magic users have to adjust to your powers. As far as I can tell it was inevitable." She released his hand and leaned back into her seat. "Some people never come back from the draw of that power. It shows just how incredible you are that you had the ability to reign yourself in at all."

He blinked and shook himself from his reverie. For the second time in one night he was stunned by her. When had she become so astute?

Ayano wasn't finished. "It's rare, but occasionally we have a 'late bloomer' in the family; someone whose power manifests near birth like everyone else, but for whatever reason stays in a weakened state for a very long time. Those people tend to have the hardest time controlling their power. When they do fully come into their own they're usually not prepared for it."

Her eyes studied the trees through the huge pane of glass before the living room. Black, leafless limbs reached clawed hands to the sky in silent supplication. The far-off look in her gaze told Kazuma that she wasn't really looking at the trees at all. After a moment she began to speak again.

"Come to think of it... Ryuya was a late bloomer, I think. At least, from what father told me, he was."

"He was." the contractor answered. "He was also shunned by the family, like I was. The son of the head of the Fuga clan was supposed to be strong and he could barely toss around a piece of paper in the wind. That's what they all said, anyway."

"Misao was one, too. I remember. She never was as strong as her brother. She always wanted to come with him on his youma missions. But the family made her stay home. 'Train harder' they said. 'You can't fight anything like that.' Hm, funny. That seems to be a trend." Ayano noted, the somber timbre of her voice gave him pause yet again. "A family putting so much pressure on a relative to be up to standard that they fall apart..."

"It's a sick cycle, isn't it?" Kazuma chuckled mirthlessly, "The family ends up fighting the monsters that they themselves created. Shouldn't we be calling _them_ monsters as well?"

Ayano's eyes fell to study the knuckles on the back of her hand. She had never thought of it before, but he was right. Even the earth-weilding Tsuwabuki seemed to have fallen into the trap of poisoning their own young. Hell, it was damn near a miracle kind and gentle people like Ayumi or Ren even existed among the families. The ex fire user wondered what that made her, then? She certainly wasn't kind, nor gentle. Was she also a monster?

Kazuma's hand flicked before her vision, forcing her to withdraw from her dark thoughts. "Earth to Ayano. You in there?"

"Hm?" She blinked large, dark eyes at him a few times. "Ah! Oh, it's nothing just thinking about my... my powers. That's all. You think we'll get them back?"

Kazuma looked skeptical of the validity of her statement, he knew she'd been worrying over something else, for sure. Still, she didn't seem interested in giving up her thoughts any time soon. He smirked and reached a hand out to ruffle her hair.

"Of course we will."

Ayano gave a distressed squawk as she tried to rearranged her displaced locks back away from her face. It took a good deal of his immense will not to laugh at her. As un-effeminate as she could be, there were still times where she revealed her inner girl. It was cute as hell. He'd call her almost angelic if it weren't for the sickly dark aura surrounding her. Then again, he could help with that, couldn't he? And besides, he hadn't rewarded her for all her insight into his past.

He leaned forward and caught a strand of her dark hair in his hand, just as he had once before, only this time he was facing her. He watched as color filled her cheeks as he raised the raven locks to his lips and kissed them. Her eyes focused intently on his mouth, a fluttery feeling rose in her stomach; worse than when he'd gotten ready to kiss her. Now that she was completely sober, her mind could truly twist her insides into knots, no longer muted by alcohol.

His eyes flicked back up to her face, a confident smirk lit the corners of his lips. He knew what he was doing to her, she just _knew _it! She wanted to be angry, she really did, but it was all she could do to simply sit and hold her breath.

"Wh-wh-why are you looking at me like that?" She spluttered. Her heart fluttered like a caged bird in her chest.

"Oh I was just thinking..." He replied, the gentlest of tugs was given to her captured hair to pull her a little closer to him.

"You? Th-thinking? Since when?" She actually felt a little proud of herself for having a comeback, even as silly as it sounded in her own ears with all her stuttering.

Kazuma grinned as he inched closer still. "I think all the time. You know that. At the moment, I seem to be thinking a lot about you."

"Mmnh. It's j-just because of h-how I am right now." She managed as she felt his warm breath fan across her face. "If I was fine you'd forget."

"I've never forgotten about you. Not since we were kids." He was so close that she could almost feel his lips.

"But I forgot you." She murmured as he pressed in for the kiss and passion seared away any other thoughts. His hands found his way to her cheeks and climbed up into her hair, tangling in her dark locks as he pressed the kiss deeper. The feel of his warm touch increased the urgency of their exchange until her lips parted for him as her eyes slid shut. Immediately, he called upon his contract and poured his energy into her. One persistent line of thought answered her, privy only to himself. _Of course you did. It was my fault you forgot. My fault your mother died_.

He leaned into her, shifting to rest on both his knees from the half-crouch he'd been holding. Kazuma's concentration faltered when her hands found their way to his chest. The energy link he had so carefully established crumbled immediately. He tried to rebuild the contract call one more time, but her fingers had somehow done a tempting dance down his chest to his abs and then under his shirt. The blaze of warmth from them as they splayed across his skin was enough for him to abandon his efforts of giving her any more of his power. He responded in turn by releasing a hand from her hair to manage the buttons on the front of her shirt. He needed her. He needed to touch more of her.

Then his phone rang.

This time, Ayano swore.

With a groan he broke away from her embrace and fumbled through his pockets for his cell. He captured it on the third ring and dragged it from his pocket. The caller ID read "blocked" in large, angry type-face; hope rose in him. His fingers rushed to hit "answer" as he brought the phone to his ear.

"Pops?"

"Who?" The sound of Jugo's voice caused his heart to sink back down into his chest.

"Oh, sorry, I thought maybe you were one of my informants. What's up? Did you find anything?" He replied, masking his disappointment.

"Something else has come up, Kazuma. I need you and Ayano to come back home." The strained tone to his serious voice made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. He sat up a little bit straighter on his knees as he narrowed his eyes. Ayano watched the contractor tense with a growing sense of dread.

She mouthed, "What's happened?" But all he could do was shrug.

After a second more he thumbed off the phone and stood up. "We have to go back home. Something's happened."

Ayano scrambled to her feet. "What is it? What about..." She gestured to herself, angling her hands towards her hair, as if to remind him of what she lacked.

"I don't know. He said he couldn't say over the phone but that it didn't matter. We just need to get there as soon as we can."

"Hm. All right then. Let's do it." Without another word she shimmied past him and made her way towards the bedroom to collect what few things she had.

Kazuma followed. In a few minutes they had a small backpack full of her clothes ready to go. He carried no clothing. He kept an entire wardrobe at the hotel suite he rented at the ready for whenever he needed to stay near the Kannagi's. The contractor led the way out through the hallway to the front door. Keys and coat in hand. Ayano followed a few steps behind as she fumbled her arms into the sleeves of her winter jacket. At the threshold to the door she helped him into on his own jacket. As he shrugged into it he glanced at his left hand and began to remove the silver band from his finger.

"Better take your rings off before we get there. I don't know what's going on but the last thing anyone needs is to send the family into an uproar over your "marriage" to a bastard wind user." His lips drew up in a mirthless smirk.

Ayano's dark pools fell to the hand in question, turning it over to watch the diamonds catch the light of the entryway. She'd forgotten all about those rings. It was like they had become another part of her flesh. She was surprised by the reluctance and sense of loss she felt as she gently worked the bands off her fingers and deposited them into his waiting palm. _Does this mean we're back to square one...?_ She wondered idly. _Was it all pretend?_

She had no time to think further on the subject. The distant honk of a car horn announced Kirika's arrival at his safe house. She had already been sent to pick them it. It was a very bad sign indeed. With trepidation tugging at her heart, the wind user and the ex-fire user stepped out the door and back into the real world.


	12. Amongst Thieves

**Boo boo confirmed by several observant reader/reviewers. Thank you all again for your answers. I think I have a way to fix that but, I did discover that in the anime it's Bernhardt alone who kills Cui Ling (thank you, Funimation on YouTube!). I could technically keep it, since I tend to use more of that canon anyway... What do you all think? Should I keep it as it is?**

**Second... I have no problem with a reviewer calling my story lame (which indeed happened on the last chapter update) if there is something that needs to be addressed I am more than willing to go and take a look at that. Heck, I always think my stories are lame because I, myself, and my own worst critic. Believe me when I say I do not like to toot my own horn. That being said, I have to know *how* you think my story is lame if you want me to fix it. I really do listen to feedback from reviewers. I know a LOT of fanfiction authors who don't and are less creative because of it; which is why I take your reviews so seriously. **

**For example, in the last update someone mentioned my story was getting a little expository in the chapters dealing with Kazuma's past. After re-reading my chapters I totally agree it was getting a little long-winded. So I wrapped up that part of his past, for now. A**_** LOT**_** of people asked me to add more romance, and, while I don't believe it's appropriate everywhere, I did notice it was a little short on the sweet stuff recently and decided to focus on an appropriate way to add that in. Thinking about that romantic interlude actually inspired this next portion of the story in a major, plot-related way. So, yeah. I **_**am**_** listening to you guys, but, please understand I need you to be clear on what you like or don't like if you hope to have the story improved in any way.**

**Finally, most of this chapter was written before I had my wisdom teeth removed. If some of the later part of this chapter is a little incoherent is probably because of the drugs. lol. **

0

Darkness, everywhere was darkness.

"If I was there I would have helped you."

It was her voice from not too long ago. Her words to Kazuma. Was she dreaming of a memory again?

"You would, would you?"

Kazuma seemed surprised and amused by her answer; she was sure of it. Why did he seem so surprised?

As if in response to her question the darkness evaporated into sky, sunlight, trees filled to the bursting with bloody red leaves. The slight chill in the air tickled her nose. Fall. It was familiar. Gradually, it dawned on her. She was back at the main Kannagi household again; just like her last dream.

Eyes that were not her own shifted over the manicured landscape, then turned downwards. The top of a child's head appeared in view, downy soft fuchsia hair fluttered in the cool wind. She flinched as little fingertips brushed against ribs, despite the padding of a very heavy wool sweater. A boy's voice broke through shrilly and his gloved hands swatted at the offending digits.  
"Stop! That tickles!" He huffed, his cheeks warming.  
The hands withdrew momentarily, leaving a cold void in their wake. Their proximity and the unearthly heat they radiated had been warming his middle quite nicely. It saddened him to feel them go. A child's face -her face- peered up through fuchsia bangs. Her pouty pink lips turned down in a frown. It occurred to her she was watching through young Kazuma's eyes yet again. She felt an odd sense of vertigo when she dreamed of herself like this. It was like staring at herself in the mirror, only the mirror showed her younger version and _that_ one moved of its own free will while she remained rooted to the spot.  
"Quit hitting me! I have'ta put the magic papers in or you'll keep getting burned by my cousins."  
"But it tickles!" The boy's voice whined petulantly.  
Little Ayano's ruby eyes sparkled with barely contained impatience. "Do ya wanna get burned summore?"  
Her consciousness within him could feel him rub the painful sores on the backs of his hands reflexively. "N-no..." he mumbled. Burns? They felt raw enough to be fairly fresh, possibly a few hours old. It felt strange to "feel" a burn. She'd never had one herself, obviously, yet she knew from lighting the bad guys up what burns looked like and that, from their reactions, it was obscenely unpleasant getting burned. Now that she could experience it (in a sense) she wondered how Kazuma had put up with the stinging sensation on a near-constant basis.  
"Then stop being a big baby and lemmie do this!" Child Ayano waved her small arms, clearly exasperated. In her left hand her fingers clutched two sheets of paper her adult self readily identified as wards used to protect her clothing from fire. From their ragged and torn edges she suspected they'd been yanked from her own clothes. Father would be very mad if he knew.  
"M' not a baby..." the boy muttered quietly as he shifted towards her again and stretched out his arms to either side to give her more room.  
Little Ayano went back to work installing the wards in his windbreaker. "Mama said that these protect ya from weak fire magic. She gets mad at me cuz when I fight the boys my clothes get all burned up so... that's why I have them. Fire dun really hurt me so you can borrow mine since... since fire burns you." She paused as she shoved one of the wards into a little hole she had made in the lining of his jacket, her large ruby eyes fixed on him with an obvious question. "Why does fire burn you? You're a Kannagi, aren't ya?"

Kazuma's shoulders rose and fell in a jerky shrug. "Dunno. Just different, I guess." He turned his eyes to the sky. "Father's family thinks that if they keep fighting me and burning me with flames I'll gain my magic."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Does it hurt when they fight you?"

Her point of view shifted suddenly to his feet, Kazuma's blue sneakers dug a small rut in the earth with the tip of his shoe. A quick bob of his head 'yes' answered her question.

"That's stupid. Fire's supposed ta be cool. Not hurty."  
Kazuma didn't really know fire as anything other than painful so he chose to ignore the subject and ask a question instead. "You said this only works on weak magic. Won't your cousins burn me anyway?"  
The child snorted derisively. "Pfft. I'm the only one with enough power to break the magic papers. My cousins're weak. Mama says so."  
He hoped she was right. Ayano could feel a sense of guilt flutter to the surface that wasn't her own. "Isn't your mom gonna be mad you gave me these?"

She shook her little head rapidly. "Mama and daddy both say I should help people who need help." She pointed a pudgy finger at herself. "I dun need em." Then back at him. "You need em. Fire dont hurt me. Magic papers jus stop me from burnin off my clothes when I get real mad..." Her cheeks filled with color. "Mama gets mad about that... a lot."  
She could feel the tiny spark of jealousy within him, so soundly outclassed by a little girl so much younger than he, how could he not? The feeling was quickly swallowed by cautious gratitude. He wasn't certain the wards would work but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, the mere fact that someone paid attention to him in a non-negative way was enough to be grateful. None of the Kannagis ever bothered to talk to him. Not even the little raven-haired girl who had protected him once from a fight. It was like he was diseased and they might catch his weakness. It bothered him. Shouldn't she be avoiding him as well?  
"Why are you helping me? Why are you even talking to me?" He tried to keep the forlorn tone out of his voice and failed.  
She tilted her head to the side, ruby eyes filled with confusion. "Why not?"  
Kazuma shrugged. "Cuz... I'm not.." he ran his fingers through his hair as words failed him. He hadn't expected her to ask him that. "I'm ... Cuz... no one else does!"  
"Everyone else is stupid. My friends from school cant use magic and they help me all the time." She answered quickly, "And, and I help them, too! Why can't you be my friend, too?" Her hands curled into plump little fists in her lap as she looked up at him expectantly.  
Friend. The word kept repeating in his mind. He didn't have any. He was always home training. There was no time for regular school if he wanted to stand a chance of being accepted into the Kannagi family at all. His chest felt funny, warm, and tingly. His little brother was too young yet to know if he would be a friend, too. Ren was still learning how to walk, let alone talk. So this, in a way was his first real friend. Possibly. Maybe.  
His gaze moved to his feet again, shuffling them against the cold, hard ground. The adult Ayano found his shyness endearingly sweet. A shame it wouldn't last. He finally muttered quietly. "Well... I _guess_ you can be my friend." He tried to make his voice sound reluctant. She was a _girl_, and a _little kid_ after all. He couldn't act _too _excited.

Young Ayano clapped her hands together happily. "Goody!" She squealed and clambered to her feet. Kazuma wondered if her mother would get mad about the grass stains on her yukata: of which she was oblivious. "I'm glad you're my friend." She added, a bright smile.

"Why?"

The fire child made a face at him. "Don't you know? All my other cousins are no fun!" She waved her bony arms, Kazuma thought she might take flight at any moment, the way she flailed about. "They're mean n' stuff. They dun like me cuz I can beat them. N' now I gotta fight 'em all. It's stupid." Her lower lip extended out as she pouted, she even went so far as to stomp her foot petulantly. "I dun wanna fight. I wanna go play!"

Kazuma's surprise was palpable. He'd forgotten all about the great tournament the family had been holding. It was why all the cousins had been brought together, after all. For the first time the boy hadn't worried about the tournament in, well, ever. Concern screeched to the fore of his mind.

"I don't want to fight, either." Unintentionally, his arms wove across his chest, gripping his biceps, as if the move could protect him from his own memories. "They're going to burn me again." He shuddered at the thought. Ayano's older self was suddenly inundated with memories of pain. Overwhelming pain. Was this what he felt when he turned to the darkness? It was awful! She was losing herself to the agony he was experiencing. So much hurt. So-

"Stupid." It stopped. The little girl's voice broke through it all.

He blinked, as if seeing her for the first time. "Stu-pid?"

"Duh!" Despite her significant lack in height she stomped over to him, reached up, and flicked his nose. "Stop bein' stupid, stupid. I'm gonna fight 'em all _for _you. I'll win, and then everyone'll have ta listen to me."

Kazuma rubbed his nose. He was flabbergasted. "...everyone?"

She nodded her head emphatically. "Yup. Then I'll make everyone stop fighting. Then we'll all go play."

Laughter burst from his lips, nearly doubling him over. "That's the silliest thing I've ever heard!" His arms clutched his sides, tears of mirth stung his eyes.

The little girl was completely offended. She puffed out her cheeks and stomped her feet. "Who asked you, anyway? S'what I'm gonna do so...so... THERE!" She stormed away from him in a huff, her hair a brightly colored curtain behind her.

"W-wait! Hey!" Kazuma stumbled off after her.

The vision flickered and faded, replaced with warmth. Another vision swam to the fore. She was in an open field somewhere familiar, but definitely not home or one of her normal hangouts. Her uncle Tsuruki, a short, squat fellow with black-brown eyes, neatly trimmed black hair, and the pinched features of a person used to scowling a lot. His beak-like nose made his face look even more unpleasant. Ayano had always hated the guy. Two of her cousins, Kou and Ryo, stood a few feet away near Genma but closer to herself. Kazuma's father looked more frustrated an angry than he typically appeared to be, his brown furrowed in barely contained rage. She thought she even saw pity reflected in his eyes.

"Again." Tsuruki waved towards her.  
"Father. Please. Tell them to stop." Kazuma begged even as the fireball came streaking towards him. Painful heat engulfed him and he screamed. The fire dissipated and he collapsed to the ground in agony. His extremeties felt like they had been jammed with thousands of needles. Finally, the air cooled, and sweet relief washed over him. His cousins leered at him from a few feet away. Uncle Tsuruki watched on proudly. Genma rubbed the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.  
Finally, Genma grunted. "Enough. We should pick up tomorrow."  
"This is your problem. You give up too soon." Tsuruki responded, his black beady eyes glittered with amusement. "This is how he will learn, Genma. You cannot have a weak son."  
"I-"  
"What will the family think at the tournament? You will lose your hard-earned status." He interrupted, his lips quirked upward. Kou and Ryo seemed equally amused. Come to think of it, she hadn't really liked the twins any more than she liked her uncle. They'd had been nasty little creatures even when they were barely toddlers. They lit their pets on fire for fun, tortured housekeepers by boiling the water they were about to use for various chores, or starting the burners unexpectedly on their live-in chef, then blamed it on other people and malfunctions, of course, and Tsuruki was too entertained to make them mind.  
Tsuruki took Genma's silence for acceptance. He motioned to her cousins.  
"Again."  
Kazuma's cries echoed in her ears; the last thing she heard before the dream faded.

Ayano's fear surged to the fore; she remembered this part of her dream all too well. First came the warmth and then... Fire. Hot, agonizing flames danced across her skin. Pain scorched a path along her arms and legs and buried itself in her breast, sucking the air from her lungs.

She screamed.

0

Kazuma had mere moments to brace for Ayano's thrashing limbs. The seatbelt in Kirika's car kept the girl from throwing herself to the floor, for that he was grateful. He reached over and unbuckled his belt so he could scoot across the leather seat and gather her up in his arms. As she had the first time she'd had that awful dream she fought his embrace initially, then sagged into sudden stillness. This was, by far, the worst part. For a terrifying second he assumed she was... no. He wouldn't even go there. The moment passed and she took a deep, shuddering breath, her eyes snapped open and she clung to him.  
"How did you stand it?" She moaned. "How did you live with this pain? I can't ... I..."  
Kazuma refused to let her finish. He gave her shivering form a squeeze. "Its all right its over now."  
Gradually, her breathing returned to normal and her eyes cleared. Her eyes turned up towards his face, brown eyes stared at him with some inscrutable expression in them. He shifted uncomfortably under her penetrating gaze.  
"They burned you."  
At first, her statement confused him. "What are you...oh..." the words died on his lips as an icy coldness trickled into his chest. The only people who had ever burned him was his family. Way back when...  
"Princess, you don't need to think about that right now..."  
Ayano pushed away from him, her eyes hard. "No. They did. They hurt you. Repeatedly. Why? It should have been obvious it wasn't working. Why keep torturing you?"  
Mahogany eyes shifted away from her face. "Let's talk about this later. We're almost here."  
Ayano opened her mouth to protest but closed it quickly as she reminded herself that Kirika was audience to their conversation. Her eyes shifted to the window, buildings passed by, illuminated in yellow by dim street lamps. In the moonless night the world felt so subdued and foreboding.

The scenery rapidly grew familiar until the walls of the primary Kannagi complex rolled into view. Dread grew in the pit of her stomach as she saw a line of black sedans lining the long driveway to her home. It could only mean one thing: a family meeting. This late at night it had to be an emergency. She glanced towards Kazuma. He had shifted back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest. A frown tipped the corners of his lips downwards. Apparently, he was just as concerned as she.  
A moment later they were escorted out of the car and to the meeting room. Intense arguing could be heard through the thin paper of the sliding doors. Kazuma entered first. As he stepped through a mass of heads turned simultaneously in his direction, then beyond him to the dark haired girl following behind.n  
Ren's blonde head poked out from between two suited men. He gave his brother a small wave, brow furrowing in confusion, then recognition of Ayano. Several years ago he would have jumped up and run to embrace his sibling. Now, though, the young man was subdued. He'd quieted significantly since Kazuma had left. Large green eyes carried a hint of maturity and the baby fat had vanished into a lanky frame. Ayano noted that he looked like a shorter, skinnier, and blonde version of his elder brother, more so, now that the two were in close proximity to each other.

The room exploded with exclaimations.  
"That's Ayano?"  
"What on earth is the meaning of all this?"  
"Why is Kazuma here?"  
Jugo raised a hand, silencing them all at once. "Please. Lets let them have a seat. Everything will be explained. "  
Ayano and Kazuma quickly took two empty seats near her father. Tsuruki sat on her other side. She stiffened when he leaned over to speak in her ear. "I can't believe you ran off at a time like this. You don't deserve the title of heiress."  
Ayano lifted her chin. "I did not run off. I was _ordered_ away."

"That is true, Tsuruki, I was the one who ordered her to stay away." Jugo began relating their tale to the family. Ayano, it was explained, went into hiding to keep her safe while they located Bernhardt. He didn't mention that it was to protect her from her own family more than anything else. She'd never really thought of it before but most of her troubles revolved around ugly family business. When had things become so bad? Why was everyone so cutthroat?  
A voice broke through her musings. "Let me get this straight, this Bernhardt fellow stole Enraiha?"  
"He tried. We don't think he was successful. " Jugo replied, patiently.  
"And _this _is the reason why we are all losing our powers?" Tsuruki broke in.  
Ayano's mouth went dry. _Everyone'_s power was disappearing? Why? Had the head of the family's power always been tied to everyone else? Her heart sank even lower. If it was true then that meant she hadn't just failed Kazuma, she'd failed everyone when she fell into that trap.  
Jugo nodded. "We think so... but this occurrence hasn't happened in 200 years... we're still researching how the Kannagis recovered Enraiha back then."  
"So it has happened before?" Kazuma's voice filtered in.  
"Yes. However the records of that incident have gone missing. It appears they have been stolen."  
"Stolen?" Tsuruki roared. "You mean to tell me the head and his heir are so weak our _antidote_ to our problem has been _stolen_?"

Kazuma flicked his cool gaze in the furious man's direction. "Well, that's our first clue. It had to be a Kannagi member. Only they are allowed into the records room, am I right, Jugo?"

Jugo nodded. "Yes, that is correct."

"Well then we have the culprit right here among us. It has to be Kazuma." Tsuruki pointed a round finger in his direction. "That _wind user_ hates this family. Of course he'd sabotage our finding a cure."

"That makes no sense!" Ayano barked. "If Kazuma had stolen those records then why the hell would he continue to remain here and guard me?"

"She's right. If it were me I would have nabbed the records and gotten the hell out of there... I would have struck back when all your powers are gone and you were helpless. Not when they're waning and you could possibly fight back. Besides, I don't give a damn about the Kannagi family. I'm here to get paid. Nothing more."

"You're lying!" Tsuruki spat. "You're-"

"-That's enough, Tsuruki." Genma spoke at last. "The boy's right. He has no reason to show his face here at this moment if he had done what you've said. It makes little sense."

Tsuruki spluttered a response but Jugo held up a hand to silence him. "Rest your case. It's obviously not him, Genma's correct."

To Ayano's dismay several other family members spoke amongst themselves, shooting Kazuma dirty, accusing looks. Was her family truly so foolish as to believe that moron? She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose between two slender fingers. Another thought stirred within her. Kazuma had once pointed out that those who argued the loudest were often a part of the guilty party. She couldn't help but wonder if this wasn't the case, again. She would have to remember to speak to Kazuma about it afterward. He'd be able to look into it.

"I suppose I know what my job is." Kazuma put on his best smirk. "Find Enraiha and return it to the family. Should be fairly simple, now that we know a Kannagi is involved."

Tsuruki paled visibly as the contractor's eyes settled squarely on him. Ayano resisted her triumphant smile. He already knew what she was thinking. Good. Make him sweat a little.

The little man frowned and crossed his arms over his chest petulantly. "Idiots. All of you. I know who did it, and so should you. This boy will lead us all on a wild goose chase. I just know it."

Ayano rolled her eyes. She was sick of the games already and she'd just gotten home. With a grunt she pushed away from the floor and stood. "We'll start investigating tomorrow. As for myself, I plan to get some rest. Good night, father." With that, she exited the meeting room.

Her feet quickly took her to her room where she removed her clothes and pulled on her pajamas. She crawled into bed with a small, pleased moan. It felt good to be in her own bed again, though she missed the comforting embrace of Kazuma's arms. She sighed and turned her gaze towards the window above her bed. The wind user would get the answers they all needed, she just knew it. The problem was, did any one of them deserve to get their powers back? She wasn't so certain anymore.


	13. Tsuruki

**Do you know what I think when I get a review from an intelligent person? I think "Oh crap! Someone likes my awful drabble! *sweats* that means I have to try harder, don't I?" Haha, but, for real. I'm seriously flattered that you all are taking the time to read and review... and I'm totally terrified. **

**Sorry about the delay, by the way. I had my wisdom teeth taken out and suffered a little complication called "dry socket"... it's really painful. And I only had one. Ugh. Suffice to say, it took me a while to recover. **

**Despite the (**_**very**_** much appreciated) help from Winnow I'm still having trouble with formatting. Due to the way I'm writing my stories (starting in kindle notes whenever the mood strikes, then sending it to my computer via e-mail) I'm liking the way the plot is developing much better, but I haven't found a way to clear the formatting as it moves from kindle, to gmail, to word and I've been made aware of how goofy it looks when it gets posted to fanfiction's site. Sorry about that, guys. I'm working on it. At this point, if you've got the skills to fix it I'm willing to send my drafts to someone for format cleanup. I'm slam-busy at work right now and fixing these formatting issues is not at the top of my list. At this point, having enough days off to write and work on my cosplay costumes is barely happening (hence, the kindle, where I can bring my writing to work) so I'm just trying to get stuff out. So yeah, if you've got the skills to fix this mess... your reward will be an early pre-view of my chapter before anyone else. **

O

Kazuma hovered in his usual spot just outside her window. Just a few hours ago he'd been so much closer to her, yet the moment he stepped back on Kannagi grounds he found himself torn from her yet again. The darkness of their family was like a great chasm stretched between them. Tonight when she had gone to bed she had looked so mournful. He wondered if it had anything to do with her dreams. She'd spoken to him as if she'd known his suffering as a child. Her eyes had practically sparked at Tsuruki at the meeting. She had never looked at their uncle with such hatred before then. Why did she suddenly hate him so? She had once seen one of his "training sessions" as a kid. But, those memories fell into the time period where all her memories had dissappeared. Was she remembering now, after all these years?  
The thought made his blood run cold. If she remembered what had happened all those years ago she surely would hate him. Ayano would know he was responsible for her mother's death. He dropped his head into his palms. She would turn her hatred towards him... the last piece of his family that accepted him as he was... she'd be gone. He raised his head slowly. No. She hadn't looked at him like that yet. Surely she hadn't remembered that far. But, was it only a matter of time?  
With a long sigh he called the wind spirits to sweep him off into the night. If his suspicions were correct about his dear uncle it was time to do some recon on the man. 

O

Rendering oneself invisible was both an interesting and humbling experience all at once. Kazuma could hear all the gossip, unfiltered as much as he wished. However, he was also privy to unfiltered commentary on himself and those he loved. Holding his tongue during those moments had always been difficult; the urge to defend pulled strongly on his heartstrings. Tonight, like most nights, turned into a massive exercise in restraint.  
He found Tsuruki engaged in a pep talk of sorts with his eldest son, Ryo. As usual in the Kannagi estate, the traditional style paper walls made listening in ever so easy.  
"Did you see the way she looked at us, father? She... she..." Ryo shuddered. "I don't think she'll marry me to save the clan."

Kazuma had to suck back a derisive snort. Shrimpy Ryo, marry Ayano? Oh, when Ayano was awake he'd love to lay that little tidbit of information on her. Getting her blood boiling in righteous indignation was always tons of fun for him.

"Nonsense. That was desire. She's playing hard to get. I know it! Besides, she won't have a choice soon enough." Tsuruki's nasally voice filtered towards him.

"How? We're losing our powers. I can barely light a cigarette!" Ryo whined.

"I have my ways. Oh, and clear up your schedule. Two nights from now we're meeting someone."

"Wha...? Aw, but, father!"

The contractor needed no further information. With a shake of his head he flew away into the night. Moments later he lit on the front porch to Jugo's room. He rapped his knuckles lightly on the wooden doorframe. The door slid open and Genma's face appeared. Kazuma scowled at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hmph!" His father snorted contemptuously, "The same as you're doing here. Need I remind you of our family's situation?"

"It's not my family any more."

"Of course not." He scoffed. "Yet, here you are." His broad frame shouldered past the sliding door to thrust an index finger into his chest. "Why are you here, Kazuma Yagami? Are you satisfied yet? Have we been sufficiently punished enough for you?"

He barely even felt the last vestiges of his composure flee away into the night. The contractor pushed forward with his chest, nearly nose to nose with his father. "I never wanted-"

"That's enough!" Jugo roared, flames erupted around him and danced around his figure.

The two men rocked backward. They stumbled backwards, away from each other. Genma nearly tripped over Jugo in his haste. The flames fizzled and died away as Jugo moved to steady him. Kazuma shot a hand out to grasp the doorframe. He shuddered as he steadied himself, suddenly aware of the odd chill surrounding the complex. His eyes narrowed. Winter was cold, certainly, but the heaviness in the air had all the markings of magic.

"Do you feel it?"

Genma glared at his son. "Feel what?"

Jugo laid a hand on the man's shoulder. "Calm yourself. Open your senses."

"I feel it." Genma ground out. "What is that?"  
"Magic. Its being pulled or called here by something or someone..." Jugo murmured, scratching his chin thoughtfully.  
"But who? Or what?" Kazuma added. "I don't know but I can tell you about something else I learned... It's about Tsuruki."  
The head of the household frowned at the floor and shook his head slowly. Kazuma wondered if he'd been expecting as much. "Come in. Let's talk." Jugo waved him inside, while Genma stepped aside to let him through.

O

The morning came and went before Ayano opened her eyes. Dark eyes shifted to the clock on her nightstand. She groaned an cast an arm out to the side to thump Kazuma. "Dammit, why didn't you wake-" her hand bounced harmlessly on the mattress. "Oh." She mumbled. "That's right... you're not here. I'm home."  
She watched her hand open and close slowly. She'd never found empty space so disappointing. If she were honest with herself she might admit that she'd never found home so empty and dissatisfying. Had her family always been so awful? When she thought back to those dreams she'd had of Kazuma she knew the answer was yes. No wonder he never wanted to stay. No wonder he'd left again. The four years he'd been gone had been miserable for her yet, for him, it had to have been a breath of fresh air. Would she merely be punishing him by asking him to stay with her? She released a slow breath and rolled onto her back, then tucked her palms beneath her and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her arms wound around her blanketed knees to hug them. She let her chin rest on top.

She raised her chin slightly when a thought occurred. As the next head of the household, surely she had the power to change things. Once she was in charge, anyway. She pressed her lips into a frown and lowered her head again. Once she had her powers back. Eyes closed, she thought of Kazuma and smiled. He would find a way. He always saved everyone. Then, maybe, just maybe, she could return the favor. Somehow. Some way.

"Wow. I don't think I've ever seen you look so thoughtful."

Ayano started at the sound of the contractor's voice. She put on the appropriate frown for the occasion before turning her face towards the window she knew he was inhabiting.

"Careful." He grinned as he floated through her window and touched down on the carpet. "Your face might stick like that."

"Oh please. I do actually think once in a while. You know, when I don't think you're looking." She rolled her eyes, then focused them on him. "So what's causing you to darken my window frame this morning?"

"You wound me, dear Ayano, with your words!" He clutched his chest dramatically, to which he was rewarded with another roll of her eyes and the upturn of her chin. The way her shoulders stiffened as her posture took on the more regal and aloof pose he recalled from her youth cause a smile to slip over his lips. Now, though, without the baby fat to round her cheeks her sculpted, upturned face held the ethereal quality of a queen. She was, in a word, breathtaking. For a moment he forgot himself, his confident smirk melting to one of gentle warmth.

Ayano noticed his lapse in conversation and cracked an eye in his direction, widening when she caught a smile she'd only seen when he looked at Ren. Her cheeks flamed instantly and she turned her whole face towards him. By then the look had melted back into his confident playboy smirk. His smile was enough to send her heart fluttering away in her chest again, like always. She was old enough now for her brain to chide her about such reactions, though it did little to quell them.

In order to grasp control again she took a moment to slide her legs down and around until she could scoot on her rear (as daintily as possible) to the edge of the bed. She swung her feet to the floor and settled her hands on her knees. "Let's try this again. Why are you here? You know something, I'm sure of it."

It wasn't a statement. "Hm. Correct. I found out a little bit about what your dear uncle Tsuruki's been up to while we eloped."

The color rapidly returned to her cheeks and stained a pretty trail down her neck. "E-eloped? We didnt...! Is that what everyone thinks?" She shook her head quickly. "No, not falling for that. We didn't say anything about our cover story, we agreed on that." She took a long, steadying breath, then focused on him. "So, what's that idiot up to now?"

Now? He quirked an eyebrow at her turn of phrase. She acted like she knew Tsuruki had been a fool all her life. He had, certainly, but never around the main family, and definitely never to her. Not that there was time to ponder the thought much. "It looks like Tsuruki has brokered power deal with someone. My guess is Bernhardt. Seems awfully convenient timing for anything else."

Ayano's gaze remained serious. "Sounds like it. So what kind of deal has he made?"

Kazuma shrugged. "That, I don't know. Something to do with power. Something a few days from now." A slow, lazy smirk spread across his features. "I _do_ know that after he's made his little deal your dear uncle is arranging to wed you to Ryo."

"WHAT?!" She bellowed, leaping to her feet in a flurry of blankets. "ME? Marry HIM?! EW!"

Kazuma took a step back as she stomped circles around her bedroom. It was exactly as entertaining as he expected it to be. His eyes drifted to the floor and his grin widened a hair. There was a faint scorch mark in a circular pattern on the floor, she must have often paced her bedroom in a similar fashion, seething so hotly that even the wards in the carpet couldn't resist her fiery fury. He had to wonder how much of that rage had been slanted towards his direction; a lot, most likely.

"I just wanna... ooh! I don't know what I'm gonna do but it's going to hurt him. That's for damn sure!" She huffed, a fist raised to her ceiling, and shook it. Kazuma's lingering silence finally summoned her attention. She kept her hand in the air, but slanted her eyes in his direction. "So, when do we go kick their asses?"

His smirk turned predatory. "In due time."

O

The two days following Kazuma's discovery of Tsuruki's plan had been hell for Ayano. Every fiber of her being wanted to punish her uncle for whatever traitorous antics he was planning. Jugo was forced to physically separate her from the rest of the family to keep her from blowing her top in his presence and risk tipping the man off. Ren had been employed to keep Ayano entertained in the mean time while his elder brother attempted to gather more intel. Amusing her had wound up being easier than anyone anticipated. Ren had used the opportunity to announce that he was officially dating Kanon Suzuhara. The big soft spot she held in her heart for the young man instantly melted at the news. She wanted to know everything, and Ren was happy to oblige.

Meanwhile, much to Kazuma's disappointment, Tsuruki laid low. Not that he was terribly surprised his uncle would refrain from stirring up trouble; but he'd hoped for a little more info all the same. It also wouldn't hurt to vent some of his frustration at the utter lack of support from the family.

Late afternoon found the Contractor at his usual "smoking" spot out on the ornate bridge overlooking a section of the Kannagi family koi pond. He drew in a breath of smoke, and then released it in a puff, wiggling his fingers to make the tendrils dance in the breeze. He had thought long and hard about this day: The day when he and Ayano would catch Tsuruki in the act.

"I don't care what you to do to the smoke… that's still a disgusting habit." Ayano's voice broke the peace of the moment. He noted that she was much quieter in her approach, almost startling him… almost. He grinned and made the smoke float around her head until she sneezed and waved hand across her face.

"Hey, cut me some slack, princess. A man's gotta think, you know."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Can you only think with a cigarette?"

"Nah, but it looks cool. Doesn't it?"

"Hardly."

Kazuma heaved a great dramatic sigh and stubbed the cigarette out in the portable ash tray he kept in a jacket pocket. "You know, for one who lives with fire so much you sure don't like smoke."

Ayano made a face. "That smoke smells different. Cigarette smoke doesn't smell…" She paused as she searched her mind for the appropriate word. "…it doesn't smell right. Tainted, I guess." Her small shoulders lifted in a shrug.

"Hmm…"

"I didn't say it made sense." She huffed.

"Since when have you made any sense?"

"I make tons of sense!"

"Mmhm. Sure you do."

"Ugh, whatever. I'm going back in to get ready."

With a scowl she turned on her heel to storm off. A hand caught her elbow and spun her back around. He grinned down at her.

"You know, you're at your most beautiful when you're angry."

Instantly, her huffing and puffing turned to spluttered protests. Half-thoughts slipped past her lips in a tumble of nonsense. Infuriatingly, this too made him smile all the more. Just when she was beginning to put her frazzled brain cells in the proper order to formulate an angry response he pulled her in, tilted her head up, and kissed her.

Any choice words she had for him exploded into tiny bits. His lips tasted oddly sweet for having smoked and she found herself all the more interested in exploring them. His lips parted and warmth flowed through her, causing her to gasp and pull back. When she did she saw his eyes open, blue as the sky.

"What…" Confusion crashed in. His eyes were blue. It wasn't right. He gave a gentle tug to pull her back in to his kiss but she placed her palms against his chest to stop him.

"Wait…Why…" The words formed so slowly to her. In fact, if she focused hard enough she found the world appeared to be moving slowly. A roaring noise was building in her ears and in the faintest reaches of her heart she felt betrayal. As the noise reached a fever pitch she felt as though her vision had become tunneled. The world suddenly winked out, and she felt nothing.


	14. Visions

**Ack. Okay, okay. Yeah, I'm taking forever… again… excuses? Oh ya, I've got tons. Fortunately, I'm done with school. Winter is upon us and that meant my retail job went into insanity mode. I had an awful Christmas to boot. It sort'a… killed me creatively. I'm trying to pull myself together, but it's hard right now. **

**I have had some fabulously constructive reviews! I know my work is pretty sloppy right now but I PROMISE I will totally come back and clean this whole thing up. I have to let it sit for a couple of months before I can go back and look at it objectively. Think of this as a rough draft. Once completed, I'll have a much nicer piece and I use all your input to get to that point later on! So, reviewers, thank you again!**

**Also, if formatting has changed yet again I apologize. In order for me to take one of my classes online I had to update my Word software to MS Office 2010 and THEN on top of that I got a Surface for my birthday with Office 2013. Thankfully, I'll have some help making all this look pretty this time around. Thank God. And thank you, Winnow, for your l337 editing skillz. **

**I googled the crap out of this before I settled on this name. Why? Because Ayano's mother's name is never mentioned anywhere as far as I know. If it has, do let me know and I'll get it changed.**

0

He'd seen it: the look in her eyes as her trust in him shattered. It was only there for a moment before her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in his arms. With practiced ease he maneuvered a hand beneath her knees and swept her up into his arms, bridal style.

For reasons he couldn't explain, he walked, rather than flew, to her bedroom. He eased through her window and deposited her carefully on her bed. He wasn't positive how long the sleeping balm would last. Would it run out of her system faster due to his latest infusion of magic? He wasn't sure.

Despite the concern he found himself sitting down next to her prone form. Something he vaguely identified as guilt kept his eyes staring straight ahead of him at the far wall, rather than look directly at her.

Kazuma settled his elbows on his knees and sighed. "I could say I'm sorry. But I'm not. Not really." He murmured, knowing she couldn't hear him but unable to stop. "I think we both know I'd be putting you more at risk if you came with me than if I left you here." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, honestly, I don't know if you're any safer here than you would be with me. This… sting… I'm planning could all be a big damn diversion. He could be drawing me out to get to you. Or he could be expecting me to take you along to stretch me thin protecting you from him. I don't know. All I know is that, for whatever reason, my gut tells me this is the smartest plan to take. I just hope you'll understand."

He turned his eyes to her sleeping face. He could see her eyes darting back and forth beneath her lids, dreaming of something. He wondered if it was more of those memories he'd hoped she wouldn't keep. If it was then she'd have bigger reasons to be angry with him, anyway. Kazuma leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Or don't understand." He grinned. "You wear anger so well."

He straightened and turned away. Without a backwards glance, he climbed out the window and took to the air.

0

Fire blazed around her and she was terrified. Ayano screamed and clasped her hands to her head, curling her small body into a ball. For a panicked second she was convinced the painful flames that consumed the ends of her dreams had leapt to the fore. She shuddered as shadows danced behind her closed lids, the fire mere inches away from searing her flesh. Yet, the pain never came. Hesitantly, she cracked one eye open, then the next. The flames writhed about her sneakers and reached tendrils towards the rubber, only to be repelled a moment later. It was then that her mind finally processed that there was no heat to the fire. No heat. No pain. Relief washed through her.

"Give up, Kazuma!" A shrill voice keened.

She raised her eyes towards the sound; her hands fell away from her head. A young Ryo glared daggers at her from a few feet away. His hands were on his knees and his skinny chest heaved with exertion. _Kazuma?_ Ayano found herself scrambling to her feet without her bidding. _Oh. The dream again_, she thought.

She suddenly surged towards the boy. Kazuma's shoulders shifted as he turned his right side and slammed into him. Ayano could hear the air whoosh out of Ryo as Kazuma's shoulder thudded into the center of his chest. The boys collapsed in a heap. Ayano winced at the pain that lanced through from his shoulder but he powered through it. Her perspective shifted as he rolled away and back up on to his feet. She could feel him mentally begging the boy.

_Stay down. Stay down. Stay down. Stay down…_

Ryo's lips opened and closed quickly. His dark eyes were wide and sparkling with tears of surprise and pain. _The wind's knocked out of him. He won't be getting up any time soon_. Ayano observed. The sound of a throat clearing brought her gaze twisting around. Her heart leapt into her throat.

"As head of the family I declare Kazuma the winner of this round." Her mother stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder.

_Mama. Mama's alive. _

Ayano was shocked to find her mother truly was as beautiful as her pictures. She had long, fuchsia hair that was a shade more crimson than Ayano's own. Her long locks extended down far enough to brush the swell of shapely hips. Voluptuous described her frame perfectly.

"This is ridiculous! I demand a rematch!" Tsuruki bellowed. He stormed forward and shook his finger in his face. Ayano noted he stepped directly over his own son like so much trash.

Ayano's mother turned her ruby eyes on him, a thin eyebrow arched high, "On what grounds?"

"Grounds? That little bastard didn't use magic at all!"

"The spells deflected. You saw as much." Jugo added.

"But he never used any offensive spells! He's certainly not capable of any defensive spells!"

Genma, possibly sensing that Tsuruki might be getting ready to out them on their "experiments" with Kazuma in the past, stepped forward. "Defensive spells are spells enough. You know that. If his spells are powerful enough to defend then he may bloom later into offensive spells."

"It has happened before." Ayano's mother supplied.

Ayano could feel the heat rise in his cheeks. The pride in his voice was palpable and he couldn't help but burn with embarrassment, knowing that his father had no idea his "late blooming" had nothing to do with skill and everything to do with the wards Ayano had given him. He had hoped the wards would resist the fire attacks of his cousins a little and help him lose the Kannagi succession tournament a little less painfully. He hadn't expected to defeat his first opponent through attrition. The wards had worked so well that he'd merely had to wait out the firestorm and Ryo to exhaust himself. His father looked down on him with such pride… not good. What was he supposed to do?

"Fine." Tsuruki conceded, a slow smile spread across his wan features. Ayano didn't like the look one bit. "If he is a late bloomer then he should do fine against Ayano. I suggest we pit them against each other."

Genma bobbed his head eagerly. "I find that acceptable, Atsuko?"

The little girl in question bulled her way to the front of the group. At some point she'd had little braids in her hair but one of them had come undone while she'd been fighting another cousin. The strands curled and twisted around one ear and framed her burgundy eyes in a way that made her look like a wild thing. Her unkempt look was made worse by the angry glare she sent towards the grown-ups. Sweet little girl, she was not. He'd seen enough to know as much when she creamed her cousins. Kazuma wanted nothing to do with fighting her, especially since she was his friend; his _only_ friend.

"I don't wanna fight." She announced with a petulant stomp of her foot.

Atsuko narrowed her eyes at Tsuruki. She, apparently, did not favor the request much, either. "Ayano is a very powerful child, and she still has trouble controlling that power. I don't think it would be wise to put her up against a late bloomer."

Tsuruki turned his cold stare on her. "We have waited long enough to find the next heir to the Kannagi family. Shouldn't we find out now if she is, in fact, the one so that she can receive the proper training to handle such power?"

"But against a late bloomer…" Jugo interjected.

"But what if Kazuma is the true heir? We could be training the wrong child."

Other family members murmured a similar sentiment. Kazuma's sense of dread began to grow. He racked his brain for the right words to get him out of his impending mess. Nothing came to mind. Dread blossomed into fear as Ayano's arguments fell on deaf ears and she was pushed to the middle of the ring.

"No! I don't WANNA!" She screeched, flames flickered at her feet, and she was forced to stomp around to keep them from setting her shoes alight. Kazuma wondered if she might set her clothes on fire again… perhaps if she did they would make them quit? No, then the grown-ups would start asking questions about her wards, no doubt.

"I…I don't wanna fight a girl." Kazuma mumbled and prayed the fear didn't show too readily in his voice. That would shame his father.

Atsuko frowned. "Neither of them want to do this."

"Yes, perhaps we should give these two a pass…?" Jugo added.

"No! This must be settled today!" Tsuruki shouted, eyes wild. "I will not watch my son be embarrassed while this little brat runs around unscathed!"

Genma's voice broke in. "Enough, Tsuruki—"

"I will not be silenced!" The skinny man stormed forward and grabbed Ayano by the arm. "Fight him!" He jerked her towards him.

Like any self-respecting young child, the girl instantly exploded into temper tantrum mode. Fire snapped and sparked around her tiny frame as she writhed in his grip. The flames did nothing to deter Tsuruki, and for the hundredth time in his young life Kazuma wished the flame users could feel the literal rage boiling over the child. The heat radiating off her made it hard to breathe. He took a step backwards to rescue his lungs.

Tsuruki gave Ayano a little shake. "Quit fighting _me_ and teach that little brat a lesson!"

"NO!"

"Dammit, child-AH!" At that moment, the little girl had had enough. Her fire getting her nowhere, she resorted to the next best thing—she bit him. Ayano curled inward and latched onto Tsuruki's hand and bit down hard. He bellowed and shook his hand to try and dislodge her but she grasped his arm and held on tight. The air grew even heavier with heat as flames roared to life around her. Finally, even Tsuruki was beginning to sweat. The whole crowd of family members stepped back.

Panic began to set in, Tsuruki placed his free hand on Ayano's forehead and began to push. "Let go! Dammit, let go!"

Kazuma could hear frantic whispers from some group of people he couldn't understand. Whatever it was, it was garbled, yet urgent. Ayano recognized it as spirit talk, but couldn't make sense of it either. She wondered if it had anything to do with her lack of powers. Or perhaps she couldn't understand them because they were wind spirits? It seemed to her that young Kazuma could almost make it out… but not quite. He was compelled to move towards her, though. Something was going to happen that was very, very bad. He was sure of it. He thought the spirits might be trying to tell him that. They'd never talked to him before, so it was hard to say. His feet were moving. Tsuruki raised his free hand.

Atsuko was shouting. The heat was incredible. But his feet were moving.

Kazuma was on him, tugging away the arm he was certain Tsuruki planned to use to strike his one friend. The wards struggled against Ayano's overwhelming power. They burned like hot coals inside his sweater.

"Let go of her!"

"Get off me you little shit!" Tsuruki snarled and jerked his elbow.

At the same time Tsuruki's fingers uncurled ever so slightly. Kazuma saw something glitter in his uncle's hand. At first, Ayano had assumed the object to be light reflecting off a watch face, or some other piece of jewelry, but Kazuma was instantly repulsed by it. It felt bad to him in his gut; made his insides feel cold despite the little girl burning brightly beside him. Surprised and confused by the rush of swift, unpleasant sensation, Kazuma let go just as Tsuruki aimed to shake the boy off. The sudden lack of weight caused his uncle's hand to fly forward from the momentum, driving his fist into Ayano's face.

The fire surrounding Ayano flared brightly the moment the punch impacted. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach instantly intensified. Kazuma was thrown away by the blast of heat that followed. He bounced off the cold earth and the air whooshed out of his lungs. He gasped for breath but all he could take in was more super-heated air. He was choking!

Arms surrounded him and he was pulled away from the fire. He turned his head up to find himself cradled by Atsuko. The nauseating feeling was getting worse by the second. Kazuma was certain something really bad was going to happen really soon. He struggled in Atsuko's grip, still so breathless he couldn't form the words to tell her what was wrong.

The woman turned her eyes down to him, "It's okay, Kazuma. I've got you."

Her own fire flared up around them, forming a protective wall around them. She tried issuing orders to the surrounding family members milling about a health distance away but couldn't be heard over the roar of the fire.

The little boy shook his head adamantly. He had to make her see! He waved his arms to draw her attention, struggling for enough air to make words. Finally, Atsuko glanced back down at him. Kazuma pointed at Tsuruki, kneeling several yards away, apparently blown back by the force of Ayano's power as well. He gestured frantically at the man; the source of the awful sickness.

"Tsuruki's fine." Atsuko answered. "He's just stunned, that's all…"

Kazuma shook his head and waved to get her attention again.

"Hands." He gasped, "In… his hands. Bad."

She shifted her gaze back towards her brother. Confusion clouded her vision.

"What…?"

"Feels bad." Kazuma wheezed. "Make…make it stop."

Ayano screamed.

Atsuko swore and loosened her grip around the boy. "Can you get up?"

He shook his head "yes" and she gently helped him stand. She pointed away from Tsuruki. "Go that way, your father's there. Tell Jugo to get help."

Kazuma stumbled towards the wall of flames in the direction she'd indicated. The moment he got close to Atsuko's protective barrier his wards lit up. They seared his skin. With an anguished cry he threw himself through the barrier, determined to get out. The wards caught fire and burned away. The second he hit the dirt he realized his sweater was aflame. Kazuma frantically beat at his shirt, rolling around on the ground like he had been taught in school.

Just as he finished putting out his own little fire he heard another high pitched scream. His eyes turned towards the sound. Ayano was a supernova of energy and flame, flaring brightly as if she were about to explode. Atsuko was running towards her. In his peripheral vision he saw both his father and Jugo running towards her as well. But that was pointless, the grownups needed to go after Tsuruki, not Ayano!

Fear gripped Kazuma. He hadn't leapt very far and the heat was still nearly unbearable from where he was. He forced his eyes away from the light and towards his uncle. The man sat in the same crouched position, muttering to himself and the thing in his fist. Chanting, maybe? Between Ayano's screams and the roar of fire he was certain Atsuko wouldn't be able to hear him call out even if he tried with all his might.

That left it up to him to stop Tsuruki. His stomach twisted at the thought. His uncle had proven quite capable of hurting him and very happy to do so. His dad, wherever he was, was probably too far away to come rescue him this time if Tsuruki really laid into him. It wasn't like he was some superhero like the guys in the Saturday morning cartoons he watched, either. The idea of purposely doing something that would definitely cause himself physical pain was extremely unappealing. He'd spent the majority of his childhood trying to avoid it…

Atsuko's alarmed cry snapped his focus back to Ayano. He could see her mother trying to push through the wall of flame surrounding her daughter with almost no success. The harder she bulled in, the stronger the fire pushed back. Atsuko focused her power for a moment and let out a shout. Her war cry caused the flames to flicker and part for a fleeting moment. For a second, he could see Ayano hovering just above the ground, her eyes wide open and glowing crimson, tears streaming down her face, terror and pain etched in her features. Ayano, his friend, was hurting.

He knew then what he had to do. He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the way his burns protested the movement. He knew from experience that he would hurt a lot more tomorrow but he didn't care. He took off at a dead run towards Tsuruki, ignoring the part of his mind that begged for self-preservation. His uncle never saw him coming. He was so consumed with the object in his hand that when the seventy pound boy barreled into him at full tilt the item flew out of his hand. Immediately, the searing heat surrounding her diminished significantly. The awfulness the boy had been feeling was reduced as well.

Still, something in the garbled whispers urged him that all wasn't well just yet. He needed to get rid of the Bad Thing. Mahogany eyes searched frantically for the object. There, in the bushes a few feet away he saw the glint of gold. He scrambled over his uncle towards the thing, little hands reached out to grab it up.

A tug on his pant leg dragged his attention away. Tsuruki had hold of one of his feet.

"Get away from that you little brat!"

Instinctively, Kazuma kicked out at him with his free foot. His sneaker managed to strike a lucky hit to his uncle's injured hand, the one Ayano had bitten earlier. With a shout the man leg go and Kazuma threw himself at the object. His hands closed around it and immediately the sick feeling overwhelmed him all over again. Immediately, his hands released it, his palms slapped the ground to either side of it to steady himself. He curled his body inward and scooted his knees up under him slightly, using his hunched position to study the thing.

It was a piece of gold twisted into some sort of design he'd never seen before. It had no jewels adorning it, and by the many scratches and dents marring its surface it had to be pretty old. The older Ayano thought it vaguely resembled character lettering, as if the twisted pieces were meant to spell out something in some arcane language. If it did, it was nothing she recognized, though she'd never been interested in studying arcane languages to begin with. Now she wished she had.

Kazuma was given no more time to investigate the object as a fireball connected squarely with his unprotected back. Instinctively, he curled himself tighter into a ball, wincing whenever an elbow or knee glanced off the object beneath him. More heat slammed into his back. Tsuruki was screaming at him. His vision tunneled and buried his head in his hands and wondered if this pain was really worth saving his friend. He hoped he would pass out soon.

"Enough!"

Atsuko's muffled voice silenced Tsuruki. Kazuma cracked an eye in her direction between splayed fingers. She was approaching them, Enraiha in hand, crimson fire crackling through the blade. The head of the family spoke but he couldn't hear it over the ringing in his ears. He struggled to hear the ensuing conversation between her and Tsuruki. It was something about her being the head, but he couldn't follow it. His body felt terribly heavy and strangely cold.

_Come on, Kazuma, stay awake. I need to see this! Don't pass out on me! _Adult Ayano urged, panic rising to the fore. She was certain if he lost consciousness that she would miss something vitally important.

Distantly, muffled thuds filtered through the darkness. Then there was nothing, only the labored sounds of his breathing in her mind. Ayano was certain he'd passed out completely. Then slowly, light broke in. She was being turned gently. A hazy image of her mother gradually materialized, the sunlight glinting off her fuchsia hair made her appear angelic to Kazuma. Atsuko's lips were moving, but he couldn't make out the words. Her eyes moved away from his face, towards something else. She frowned.

Kazuma distantly wondered what was bothering his saving grace. Something…. What was it? He felt like he needed to do something important. She was reaching over him. Why?

Then it hit him. The Bad Thing. She was reaching for the bad thing.

No!

Don't touch it!

N—

The vision collapsed into pain and fire. Ayano woke up screaming the word "No!"


End file.
